Wanting to build attic space in garage Help
I want to build a small attic space in my garage for light storage. The ceiling of my garage is 3/4 an upstairs bedroom and that leaves about 1/4 open space to the roof. The attic area I want to create would be 8×7. That is the distance between the outside wall and what is the closet of the upstairs bedroom. I briefly talked to a friend that does some construction work and he mentioned I should have a 2×6 or 2×8 ledger board ( attached with lag bolts ) around the area then attach 2×4 to span the distance. Of course he said it wasn’t hard but I have never done anything like this and he is rebuilding his 1910 craftsman home from the ground up so he can’t help me. So I guess what I am wanting to know is does this project sound like it is a good one to tackle with little wood working exp?
One of the questions I had was with the ledger board.
In this case you would fasten the ledger board to the studs and existing framing but how many lag bolts would you use and where? I am going off the suggestion of a 2×6 board so should I lag into the stud up higher as well as across the bottom( not sure if that makes sense )?
Also when adding the cross beams ( this is the 7′ measurement ) do they get attached on top of the ledger board or between them? I would think going on top would be stronger but I would lose a lot of space.
Here are some pictures to hopefully illustrate the area in question and thanks for your time.
Replies
I'd span with 2x6 vs. 2x4 and skip the ledger. Attach the joists to the top plates with joist hangers - you need to move the elec wire (or whatever the white thingy is)
The wires are cable and dish tv. Seems they had almost every form of tv installed at some point. So yeah I thought they would have to be moved. I assume they can just be moved to be above the flooring when complete with some kind of hole in a corner to let them run out.
Now for the joist hangers to the top plates, (as I am a newb ) would they be level at the top or the bottom of the joist? The joist being 2x6 and the top plate being 2-2x4's so 4". Also would I still use lag bolts or just screws?
Another question would be how do I deal with the drywalled side? Do I need to remove the drywall in those areas or maybe get longer screws/ lags?
Thanks again for your help.
First you need to figure out at what level the floor should be. If you're just using 3/4 plywood for a rough floor (I assume this is just for storage) then the joist tops need to be 3/4" below the final floor level.
Definitely do not use 2x4s. 2x6s should be sufficient for light/moderate storage, but if you're planning to really load it down you'd want to go to 2x8s.
Ledger or not is dependent in part on where you want the floor. If the floor will sit at or just above that top horizontal plate then there is probably enough meat in the plates to put hangers there. Higher or lower, though, and you're probably need the ledger -- a board the same dimension as your joists, lag bolted to the existing framing at every other stud.
Use the special screws made for the hangers. They're expensive, but well worth it.