Can i remove these timbers?

[imamartian]

Can these timbers be removed? the ones bottem left?

 

[JohnD]

did the previous occupiers have a punchbag or love swing?

 

[imamartian]

John, it's funny you should ask that, but i have put up a punch bag without problem. However, these timbers seem to just tie the roof struts together, they run up the roof too ..... i will try to take a pic of that too !

 

[imamartian]

This is one of the timbers that runs up the roof

...

here is the other..

could i take these out?

 

[JohnD]

best wait for a carpenter or roofer to come on

but they look to me like the odd timbers used to brace the trusses together during assembly of the roof. Once the slope is battened and the ridge is in place they are less necessary

if it still needs bracing you could do it more neatly

 

[imamartian]

John, i'd agree. The one's on the roof i'm happy to leave, but the ones one the floor i want to take up to make i easier to board the floor!

 

[Deluks]

The loft boarding will brace the timbers anyway, however you appear to be using chipboard..........

GO AND STAND IN THE CORRIDOR! AND WASH YOUR MOUTH OUT WITH SOAP AND WATER!

... and flagellate yourself, and erm ,stuff.

 

[^woody^]

They are diagonal bracing used to stop the trusses from leaning over, and are required to give the roof rigidity.

There should be bracing on the ceiling timbers, but those ones seem incorrectly fitted so are probably not doing much. The boarding will effectively brace the ceiling timbers

You should leave the braces on the rafter timbers though.

 

[gangman]

best wait for a carpenter or roofer to come on

but they look to me like the odd timbers used to brace the trusses together during assembly of the roof. Once the slope is battened and the ridge is in place they are less necessary

if it still needs bracing you could do it more neatly

The diagonal bracing is crucial for the rigidity of a trussed roof and should not be taken out. Some truss manufacturers still supply a bracing plan in their design drawings, but usually it's down to whoever is fitting the trusses. Personally I put in extra bracing, I've seen what can happen when it's not right, and the cost of a bit of 4x1 is nothing in the scheme of things.

On the ceiling level it is more usual just to use longitudinal bracing on the node points rather than diagonal bracing. If you board it out I'd still put this bracing in on the other side of the node points.

 

[Bowness72]

The bracing at ceiling level looks like wind bracing which is there to provide lateral restraint to the top of the wall to transfer wind load across the ceiling and into the side walls. As Woody says, the boarding will probably do that but make sure you fix the boarding down and don't just have it loose or you may have problems. Also I would make sure the boards are well fixed down before you remove the ceiling bracing.

 

[Mr M]

Screw don't nail, if you'll pardon the expression and I'd fix them at about 300mm (max) centres along the length of the ceiling joists, to minimise any annoying squeaks later.

It may be an old wives tail but did it used to be recommended to put carpet underlay or something similar between the boards and the joists to reduce noise/vibration in the floor

 

[hammerz]

The loft boarding will brace the timbers anyway, however you appear to be using chipboard..........

GO AND STAND IN THE CORRIDOR! AND WASH YOUR MOUTH OUT WITH SOAP AND WATER!

... and flagellate yourself, and erm ,stuff.

lol pmsl!