Hey all. I have a garage (1 1/2 car), not attached to the house. I am in the process of remodeling it, and I have a question about converting the attic crawl space above the ceiling into a usable space for light storage. Nothing really heavy. I would just like a place to store the outside Christmas decorations, and maybe some off season items like a leaf blower and what not.
The span is around 15 feet. It is basically cinder block walls on a concrete foundation, basic roof design, no hanging trusses, unlike my house roof. Right now, there are about 9 joists (2x6, 24 1/2" off center) supporting the ceiling. If i grab onto one and pull it, it has a good amount of sag to it if i put my weight on it. I realize that I am putting my weight on one spot on one joist and its not evenly distributed. I was also up there to clean out the attic vents and the joists were pretty unstable to walk on. I definitely would like to try to get some stability up there.
From asking around, I gather the best way is to sister another 15' long 2x6 with glue and screws to each existing joist. Would it also be alright to decrease the width between the joists by adding another 2x6 in-between the others? Even if its not between every space? Also, instead of sistering another 2x6 to the existing ones, if I sistered a 2x8 to each one instead? Even a 2x10? Theres plenty of room for me to stand up up there so I'm not worried about losing the additional 2-4" of floor space by adding 2x8's or 2x10's. I just want whats most stable. Follow this up by laying down a few sheets of plywood for the floor covering.
Just wondering if I'm on the right track. Any other ideas from experts would be more than appreciated. Just want the most economical way of doing this. Seems a waste to waste that space up there.
The span is around 15 feet. It is basically cinder block walls on a concrete foundation, basic roof design, no hanging trusses, unlike my house roof. Right now, there are about 9 joists (2x6, 24 1/2" off center) supporting the ceiling. If i grab onto one and pull it, it has a good amount of sag to it if i put my weight on it. I realize that I am putting my weight on one spot on one joist and its not evenly distributed. I was also up there to clean out the attic vents and the joists were pretty unstable to walk on. I definitely would like to try to get some stability up there.
From asking around, I gather the best way is to sister another 15' long 2x6 with glue and screws to each existing joist. Would it also be alright to decrease the width between the joists by adding another 2x6 in-between the others? Even if its not between every space? Also, instead of sistering another 2x6 to the existing ones, if I sistered a 2x8 to each one instead? Even a 2x10? Theres plenty of room for me to stand up up there so I'm not worried about losing the additional 2-4" of floor space by adding 2x8's or 2x10's. I just want whats most stable. Follow this up by laying down a few sheets of plywood for the floor covering.
Just wondering if I'm on the right track. Any other ideas from experts would be more than appreciated. Just want the most economical way of doing this. Seems a waste to waste that space up there.
