I looked at a single-story, two-car garage today that’s about 100 years old. It’s about 20 feet wide with a 16-foot door opening in one gable end. It has 2×4 rafters about 24″ o.c. and 2×4 ceiling ‘joists’ on every 3rd rafter pair. It is sheathed with 1×6.
There are visible bows in the side walls and the roof ridge has a visible sag (About 12″ at the center of the 20 foot length of the roof). Otherwise, the frame seems pretty sound for its age.
Has anyone had luck with a big turnbuckle or similar device to rejuvinate an old hag like this? How was it done? Who might sell this type of hardware?
Thanks in advance. Al Mollitor, Sharon MA
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we pulled a barn roof together that had slipped off the plates -- it took chains and 3 chain hoists that you see in old time garages that lift engines out of cars. Took several guys hanging on the chains to bring it together but once it was together it was fine -- we then stablized with 1/2" wire rope with the turn buckels to keep it from slipping back.
My garage also has a sag of over six inches in the center. The construction is 2x6 rafters with a 1x6 ridge board and collar ties on every third rafter. A neighbor with an identical garage decided to take the sag out by attaching vertical 2x4s along the ridge and jacking them up with hydraulic jacks. He said that many of the rafters and all of the collar ties split so that he had to replace them. I guess the lesson is that old lumber that has taken a set doesn't get undone easily.
Too bad 'bout that.
But that's one reason for the advice to go slowly. Whether jacking or using comalongs, you can bring it to the point of failure or where jacks won't do anymore, and then leave it overnight and when you start back uo in the AM, it slides right along real easy again for a piece..
Excellence is its own reward!
Al,
It sounds like my garage, except for mine isn't sagging yet. Same construction. The weakest link is the lack of good ceiling joists to hold the walls from spreading out.
I'd try precutting a bunch of 2x6's to the building line dimension (from the outside of each plate, where they are supposed to be. Get them ready.
Then get some chain and some come alongs and loop the chains around the top plates (make sure you pick good solid areas where there aren't knots that could produce weak spots) from each side, back to the comealong in the middle and start cranking. If you're using two or three, maybe take one or two cranks at each one, alternating back and forth. Do it slow and be careful to stay out of the way as much as you can in case some part of the system fails. Keep an eye on the walls to straighten them, look at the ridgeboard if there is one, and just go slow and careful. You may want to spread this out over time, cranking a bit here and there until you get it. Either it will want to come back or it won't but you'll probably find out.
Al,
Go slow...1/8" - 1/4" /day...wet the wood to make it more flexible. Wet it the day before and every couple of days. Those "cieling joists" are ties to keep the walls from spreading... They stretched... got to be replaced, first with turnbuckles to pull the walls in (do every rafter) then with new wood.
You've got to jack up the ridge beam while you pull in the walls and keep everything balanced and all tensions in proportion. Make sure the rafters aren't doing any funny dances. Get an engineer to design a built-in-place truss system.
IMHO your second best bet financially, is to foist all responsibilities off on another..ie, another contractor. Your best bet avoid it.
SamT
walk better yet run away
100 year old garage? sitting on what? footings? sill plates? wont be pressure treated thats for sure, probably needs a new roof and certainly will after straightening up
i tried to straighten one up a few years ago using comalongs and chains, reinforced the corners with plywood gussets, its okay but im not proud of it
if the sill plate and footings are all good, why not teare the roof off(framing and all), straighten the wall and build a new roof with trusses
Been there and got the T-shirt, and haven't been able to run away from the garage in 20 years.
2 car garage with a wood floor here, gable end has the 16 foot fiberglass door. Strikingly similar to yours. Hopefully yours is wood frame with some penetrable siding.
Mine was built on concrete pilings at the corners and in the middle of the walls. Then someone put 4x6's on their side and built it up from there. 2x4's to a plate on top, then rafters with collar ties scabbed out of the awfullest 2x4 and sheeting parts you could find to make the collar ties. 1x6 pine sheeting on the roof deck.
Big problem was the front left corner was sagging 14 inches off of level, and the left rear was 10 inches off. It leaned and was looking like a match was the best option.
I bought 8 basement column or post jacks. The posts out of tubular steel with the metal caps and a 6 inch acme thread on the end. about 12 bucks each.
I took 2 lag screws 2" long by 1/4 and screwed them into the dolly varden siding at an angle up into the stud about 6 inches below the top plate.
Then I had long 2x8's and blocks of the same on the ground outside of the garage on the left side. hook the open end of the basement column on the lag screw heads that are left proud of the siding by 1/4 inch. (the pipe digs into the siding but that is the least of your problems and it can be fixed later with wood filler)
Put the acme thread end down on the 2x8 base with a 2x8 block at cross grain to the long board. Put a jack every 2nd or 3rd stud down the low side of the garage.
Now get a beer and start turning the screws on the columns to lengthen the post. You'll need a cheater pipe and many hours. Each time you reach the end of the acme thread, jack up the adjacent columns then back off the one at the end of its thread. After you back it off put another 2x8 or 2 under the screw head and start over. (there are viewing holes in the post head so you don't have a problem.) Good news here is you are outside of this mousetrap!
After I got the whole mess level I took the circular saw and cut the rotted wall off at about 2 foot up. Then dug a trench, poured a footing and laid block under the wall I cut. After that I put down a sill plate of treated wood and lowered the wall in place.
She's sweet and solid now.
As for the old pilings of concrete. I pulled out the 4 offenders in the way of my new footing and foundation. Buried deeply next to the concrete piling in the muckiest corner I found 2 Makers Mark type whiskey bottles buried deep under the concrete. Empty of course.
I picture a couple guys making this garage in the 20's. They were probably figuring cars were a passing fancy. Wondering if this would later be a chicken coop or a hay barn. Working away with a good head of sweat thinking the important stuff to them was leaning on a shovel with their buddy and tippin' a few. Turns out they were only half wrong.
Have fun. That was one of the last great projects with my dad. Lots of arguments, laughs, and epiphanys. Make yours memorable.