Raising the ceiling/roof
 

Hey guys I need your help. Later this year I really want to add a new Corvette to the toy box but the garage is full. Neither the Firebird nor the boat will set outside and no way would a Z06 be left out in the snow.
I have a detached garage that is 28x32. My ceilings are just over 9 foot and I want to put in a 4 post lift. I'm wanting to raise the ceiling height and have been told my best option is to replace the whole roof. Right now I have a conventional truss roof with a 5 pitch and will be going to a 13 pitch with scissor trusses. This will bring me up to 12' ceilings. So far I've been quoted about $4500 for the trusses. As it sets right now the vette and firebird could occupy the same space with 2 inches to spare and it gives me plenty of room to work under the them. The truck would get about 3 feet under it to do oil changes and such.
Has anyone gone through this if so what did you do? Do you think $5000 in materials for an extra 3 feet is worth it? I really wish the last owner had been thinking of me when he build this place.. LOL
The drawing I made shows how the ceiling (in blue) would open up.

I'm having a hard time with the amount of $$$ you're looking at compared to what you gain. In addition to the cost of the trusses, you have all new roof sheathing, roofing and siding for the new taller gables... not to mention the labor for it all, if you're not going to do it yourself. Don't forget the cost of a dumpster to get rid of the old roof structure. All of this just to gain a few feet of headroom.

The pricing on those trusses seems pretty high to me, though I haven't priced that style in a long time. I mostly use standard trusses or storage trusses when I use them. I did a garage last year 24X32 and storage trusses only ran me $2150.

If it were me, I'd take that money and buy a nice enclosed trailer, that can be used for winter storage and for transporting cars in the summer. It'll cost a whole lot less than your proposed project and add new capabilities. Or you could spend $10K raising the roof.

Thanks for the input that is exactly what I'm looking for and yeah I was very surprised on the price for the trusses. I have one more call out to a different co. to see what kind of price they can get. I do plan on doing the job myself so that will help on the cost. I do have a metal roof so that can be reused and I'll just have to add some to make up the difference of the new angles. If I do pull the old roof my plan is to take it apart carefully in hopes I can sell the old trusses and recoup some of my money.

That price is HIGH. My garage is the same size & my trusses were $100 each, they are standard trusses. I have seen a couple of people raise the garage instead of the ceiling. No messing with the roof. Just have to add more garage door panels & re-frame the man door . Here is a video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HdbV4Kqcjls

You have a 5 pitch now. Some things to keep in mind.
1. The lift will need to go higher than its named top height to be able to get on the locks, about 4 inches more youll need.
2. You will want the wider and taller 4 post to get a truck under ...............Gregg Smith Equipment in Hudson, NH is cheapest and no tax if you pick it up.
3. I have a 4 post in a 6 pitch and 13 ft ceiling. Works well, not much room on top my bird, probably 5-6, my 2500HD barely fits under it completely.
4. The ceiling... A friend had this situation with bought trusses. He braced and re engineered the trusses in 1/2 his garage to make room for lift to work right. You have the height inside, may as well use it.
wouldnt take rocket science to start it and remove the old as you go. re use the ceiling when done.
5. Other options would be to Block up the foundation and then use block bond and raise the Garage. You could put in a new header and lower the doors.
Messing with your nice roof seems crazy... Good luck. !

I cut the middle out of my trusses and reframed them to make a tray ceiling over the roof part of the car. My ceiling is 10' and when I raise the Firebird to a height that what works for me it's 10" from the original 10', it could go up one more notch there and several under the tray. I put the tray in to work on a truck.
Only issue you'll have is raising the doors all the way with a car up all the way. In reality you only need to raise the door as high as the runners to get another car under.
The do make high lift doors that raise it 12" but at 9' you may not be able to.

Please, whatever you do is NOT cut a roof truss without the truss manufacturer approval....

https://www.askthebuilder.com/can-i-...-roof-trusses/

Especially, in a snow load area....

I didn't notice until I came back to this thread that his doors run parallel to his ridge line, mine is perpendicular which made re-framing them for a tray much easier. His probably have a diagonal right over each bay, mine were open in center so a simple boxing in and bracing was all that was needed.
His might could still be done but yeah, I'd consult someone local first.

He just might need to replace his trusses to get the height, or move the doors to the side. None of which is inexpensive.
I'd be tempted to raise it to a 2 story if I had to replace the trusses and roof anyway, storage or man cave above.

You can see my tray in this picture, I had a Ford Ranger and I'd raise it there so the doghouse would go up into it, the tray doesn't need to be very big.
Since these lifts come with Casters I move them from bay to bay depending on what I'm working on or storing

I would look at wall heightening / framing another 4' say. Jack the roof up and re-use. Be some temp support aspects. End result best. Have seen them jack whole house up to build full tall basements, so anything doable.

I would build a whole new building... you are gonna be way ahead in the long run...plus, more space for next toy

The money spent on a 4 post and the whole rasing the roof deal will go along way towards another shop

Or add on to the one you have.

I really cant comment on the pricing, as I'm not into construction. I'd be mindful of the door height, as a smaller door will interfere with the car on the top of the lift.

I will say that I have 12ft ceilings, and I have some room to spare with a car on top.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4689/...08e50513_c.jpg

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4516/...a1ea0e35_c.jpg

How about adding on to your existing garage for what you need? Adding on either side or the rear, if you have the room, is what I'd do. Then you could make the roof as high as you want and not have to change the existing structure. More room all consolidated into one building.

I bought a 24' barebones enclosed trailer last year for $6100. Put car in trailer, put trailer in pole shed. Dun.
I was gonna add on to my 32x36 garage another 28x24 for $20,000. Figured I could always sell the trailer, never the garage.

Remove garage doors. Frame the door openings shut temporarily. Hire someone to jack the garage up to the required height. Lay blocks on the existing foundation to the required height. Lower garage back down and attach. Modify temporary garage door framing to allow re-installation of doors down a bit lower. Fix siding. Install lift. Park car.

^^^ LOL, we must have been typing at the same time.

Could lift the whole thing off the foundation and add 2-3 courses of block.
Sill plate is probably bolted to the blocks. Not even touch the roof.

Great minds.......

You could work some small windows into the mix in the areas above the three doors.

I would do as they are saying and look into raising the building, I think I would bring in a forms guy and pour on top of the existing foundation though. Also go high enough so that your garage door is not an issue. If you are going to tear off the roof why not stick frame a short wall and re use the existing roof? I guess it comes down to you have a bunch of options, if you have need for a trailer that may be a good way to go, could also pick up a shipping container too. One of the bigger truss manufacturers is up there in Biddeford as well, so you may want to see what they can do for you, I will always go for the attic or storage truss going forward, worth the small extra price.

$4,500 sounds like a decent deal to me - cheaper than that trailer someone on here mentioned.

I have a garage that's connected to my house - as I learned when I was looking into raising my rafters, it's much more complicated than it seems. I'd need to involve an engineer, etc.

If you do decide to raise ,add wall height, I would make sure footings are deep enough for frost. It only takes one deep frost to start a crack. Then your efforts would be in vain. If possible,codes etc, build new.

When I built my garage (36x48) 2.5 story the town made me move the location over, basically on top of a cinder block shed which is now the corner of my building. This shed had to have the second floor removed and then a small 4 ft wall built to take up the space gap, kind of the same situation presented here in a way. Proper research, talk with people you know that do these things and over building what you do are keys to success in my mind.

All good ideas. I've thought about raising the whole building but then I'm looking at a complete re-wire. The main feed is buried and paved over. I don't know if I would be able to pull longer wires in. I have pored base walls that are about 15" tall so I'm not sure how to go about adding to the top of that.
One good thing he did when the garage was build is that he ran the doors right up to the ceiling. I loose about 3" but with the depth of the garage it wouldn't get in the way. I would just have to move the lift towards the rear. I can get away with what I have but a little more would be nice. Thanks again guys. You gave me some things to think about.

At least he over build the floor. LOL He went 12" around the edges, 5" thick for the slab and used 4000 psi concrete.

That video raising the garage was pretty cool

Basically this is what I had done to mine. Been a long time but I think we raise it 2 feet.

No, use 5000 pound cement with the fiberglass in it and good reinforcing wire or re-rod. 6" thick with 12 in footings... and a 12 footing every 1/3 of the width front to back. Believe me you'll be glad you did. My garage has 8" footings and only a 5" slab with what I believe is 4000 pound cement and no fiberglass in it. It's cracking on me and I've owned the property for 10 years. The garage was built in 2002. With all of the weight of the cars, lifts and tools you'll need all the strength you can get in the floor so it will last. I might sound nuts but I've seen guys go the cheap way and they're sorry they did. Same goes for a few machine shop floors I've seen.

I put a thin pad down for steps when you come off the edge to the driveway at the garage and to step down into the backyard. It's only 3 inches thick with wire mesh and fiberglass in the 5000 pound cement mix. The end of 16" high x 30" wide cement pad, poured block actually, in front of the man door sits on the edge this pad and is heavy as all hell. It hasn't cracked at all even with the cold and wet weather weather we've.

Have you considered installing 2 car doors at the side of the building? it looks like you have the space.

This way you could use the extra height under the ridge beam in the middle of the building to accommodate the space needed for the car on the lift.

Doing this you would only have to add scissor trusses where the lift is.

Just a thought?

I really don't have the room and I think turning the garage in to a side entry would be more of a pain then it's worth.

You people and your big garages and lots of land and low taxes... ALL SUCK! (In a good way [emoji6])

I just bought this and am trying to squeeze a lift inside my 9'7" ceiling with a beam!

Maybe I can raise the buildings of the entire row of town houses! LOL

Oh, and as to the OP, wouldn't adding on be the best use of money, assuming you have the space and code allows for bigger garage? Add on one more bay with higher ceiling and lift.

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...d101133de3.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...9c69233996.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...4a4853c58a.jpg

Recently helped a friend raise his ceiling from 10' to 14'. Cut out 4 trusses. This is what an engineer recommeAttachment 475143

Attachment 475144

Attachment 475145

Attachment 475146nded. Not real expensive, but a lot of labor and time.

I was watching a video tonight about doing this same thing. My trusses run perpendicular to the doors so I would have to make sure exactly where I would place the lift.

Yeah that beam placement sucks for sure. I may be able to blow out the back wall but I'm not sure about on the sides. I would have to look into setbacks from the property line on the right and septic on the left.

So, we have a "collector car" Firebird and a boat that stay inside, a truck that stays outside and we are getting a new Corvette to stay inside.

Do we need the lift for vertical storage or for maintenance, repair work?

Is the garage for JUST car/boat stuff or is it going to get its share of lawnmowers, garden tools. etc.? Is there storage in the loft? Are the ceiling joists strong enough for loft storage? Is it going to have an air compressor setup? Work bench?

So, if I have a lift, do I put the Firebird on top or the new Corvette? What if there is a fire and electric service is lost? Which car do I want to save? What kind of fire suppression system do I have in my garage?

I vote for a new separate building, big enough for a single car storage and workshop (and maybe paint booth area).

Or, maybe, A few hundred dollars spent on a set of dollies, floor jack and jack stands would work.

P.S. I would paint the interior white to improve the lighting.

Trust me I hate that my truck stays outside and if I can I would add 2 lifts. One for the cars and one for the boat. LOL The Firebird stays inside for obvious reasons and my bassboat because I have to much money in tackle and stuff to leave it outside. Future plans are to add carports to each side so I can have covered parking for the truck.

The lift is for all the above. It's something I've wanted for a long time and will serve multiple uses.

Stuff inside is a 4 wheeler, snowmobile, Firebird, boat, riding lawn mower, snowblower, tools and an air compressor. It's pretty full.

Whatever isn't being driven would be up in the air but playing musical cars would be a pain. I do that already with the mower during the summer. If it's not blocking the car it's in the way of the boat. At least during the winter it's only the sled and snowblower that comes out so it's a little easier. The off season stuff is lined up in the middle. A fire would be catastrophic but I do keep everything I own with the exception of my beater car (2002 Saturn) fully insured. Some kind of suppression would be nice especially after I put in a heating system.

Unfortunately I really don't have the room for a second building and to add to the length of what I have now would come with a whole new set of issues. The yard behind the garage holds water during the summer so I would have deal with that and there is a 15" pored wall around the garage that would have to be cut out to open it up. So no matter what I do it's not going to be an easy task.

Oh and painting is high on the list of things to do along with adding better lights.

And a dump run is a must. LOL

I'm just vacillating over this myself. I have a 25 x 40 solid brick garage with a miserable 8'6" ceiling height inside.

Shallow pitched roof with colourbond corrugated iron roof sitting on preformed trusses.

Thoughts on this are to simply dismantle the roof pulling the sheets of iron off first, then take down the trusses. On top of the brick walls we build a 5' 6" stud wall, then set the trusses back on top, re-roof it using the same steel.

Over here, the "modern" way to build a 2 storey house is a brick base wall construction and a stud wall up top which is clad with a polystyrene hard foam sheet which is then rendered over and painted. Now as a house construction I think its crazy but I'm starting to think this is going to be a fairly economical way to get the internal head height I need.

Maybe its something you could consider yourself

I would think with solid brick walls adding to the top would be the way to go. What are people thinking when they put in low ceilings? LOL

The same thing as when they think a 24' x 44' 3 bay garage will be "PLENTY" big enough. :doh:

There are two sizes of garage, too small and way too small.

Ain't that the truth.

Here's my 32x22 5 car garage with workshop above..https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...afd8561c5f.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...52574c4332.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...77647273e0.jpg


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Jealousy boiling over. Must. Control. Feelings...

Nice setup

Thanks as I raised the roof with a stick built approach. https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...877fd68791.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...f4c93bc7a9.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...b62aa9af77.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...6717497a8e.jpg


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I'm looking in to a gambrel style roof to see if that would work for me.

Here's a little sketch for you... https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...fb4a496c02.jpg


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Revised plans..........

I looked into a gambrel style roof and it would be the same price ($4500) give or take, however it gives me a lot more room to work with. It would give me a peak ceiling height of 7 feet vs 3 feet which would allow me to get full use of the lift just by offsetting it by about a foot. Where as I would hit the ceiling with the truss design. We also talked about cutting the original trusses and I was advised against doing that. The cost of getting an engineer involved would be crazy for the little gain in ceiling height it would give me.
Seeing this design makes the cost a lot more justifiable in my eyes. What do you guys think?

Nice sketch. Isometric drawing is a nice skill set to have..

One caution I would add is if you decide to store a car in an enclosed trailer is to open it up and check on it frequently and air it out. Or possibly put a dehumidifier in there as well that you can cycle off and on periodically. I also ran out of room due to too many toys so I stored my 69 Trans Am in my 20 ft enclosed for about a year. The humidity is very high where I live in the summer and It "sweated" (condensation) appearantly a lot. Fortunately I moved it to dry inside storage at my business before It caused serious issues.

Thanks 66, I'm a napkin sketcher..

Overhead Door has a door opener that attaches to the torsion bar to open the door. Way better than the ones most of us have that hang from the ceiling.
You never have to worry about getting the car too close to the unit.

Not he one I saw but it works the same.... RSX Operator
https://www.overheaddoor.com/commerc...or-accessories

That's what I have but it's a liftmaster setup. https://www.liftmaster.com/for-homes...ers/model-8500