Removing collar ties?.

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Hello all, I was in the loft yesterday and looking to clear it out for better storage.

It has two collar ties that I presume are quite important but is there any way to remove them safely?. Are they to stop the roof spreading?.

I've read it may be possible to triangulate the rafters at the top with strong ply triangles?.

There's double rafters with the collar tie on the middle, one tie either side of the loft.

The roof itself and felt are in good condition and bone dry so if it will cause any issues I'll just leave well alone!.

Thanks for any input.

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Hello again, thanks for the link!.

I don't seem to have anything connecting the purlins to the spine wall in my loft, so the double rafters are to support the purlins via the crpss ties?.

Is there any brackets that could tie the purlins to the double rafters or will the roof loose some rigidity removing the cross ties?.

I think the double rafters are supported buy the front and back wall plates only?.
 
no the collars are to stop the purlins pushing inwards if you had a spine wall you could brace down too that
but unless your looking to convert i wouldnt bother
 
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As those collars are tied in to the rafters, not the purlins, it's more likely they've been added to stop the roof spreading.
 
Ahh thank you that makes sense!, I'll leave it all alone then.

Cheers for the help!.
 
Depends. You'd need someone better than me (PM Noseall) but if you've got a spine wall in the centre, then you might be able to tie the roof in lower down on each rafter, side to side. A loft conversion would run a steel under the purlins, and then the load could be transferred down on to it, but putting in ply at the top of the roof won't stop the roof trying to spread at the bottom. You could put in a flitch beam across the roof, and then support the purlins on that, and tie the roof down onto it where the collar is. Is it just the one collar though.
 
Hello, thanks for the reply. There's two collar ties but to be honest I'll leave as is for now!.

As far as I can see we don't have a spine wall (due to how the rooms are laid out).

A loft conversion is on the cards at some point in the future so this is all good information to have!.

For now it was just to make it easier access but don't want to ruin the integrity of the roof whick I why I posted, and to lean a thing or two.
 
The long horizontal ties are to prevent the purlin from wandering, I.e inward thrust at the point where the roof is most likey to sag or 'diaphragm'. They are important on windy days etc.
 

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