Need a construction guy's help

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JAG2955
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Need a construction guy's help

Post by JAG2955 »

Or something similar thereof.

Our house has a carport that extends from the garage. The garage is a side-opener, and the carport extends toward the street. The ridgeline of the roof is parallel to the entry/exit from the carport, if that makes sense.

The ceiling of the carport is covered with textured drywall and painted. During some recent winds, I noticed some cracking paint around the wall/ceiling intersection. It looks like the drywall isn't strong enough to withstand the winds. There is no insulation in the roof of the garage or the carport.

I'm thinking that the obvious fix is to shoot a bunch of screws up into the rafters, spackle, and paint. But how is that for longevity? Should I re-ceiling the carport with something like T-111 siding and paint it? And if I do, should I just go right over the drywall?

I'm also not super confident that the wall between the garage and the carport is tied into a rafter. When I was crawling around up in the attic area, I saw a horizontal 2x6 or 2x8, (even looked like PT wood) which I was hoping wasn't the top plate of the wall. I'll have to check again. If it is, how should I tie it to the rafters?
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Weetabix
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Re: Need a construction guy's help

Post by Weetabix »

Pictures?

And compromised dry wall won't really gain any strength from additional screws. Whatever was moving will probably keep moving and do it again.
Note to self: start reading sig lines. They're actually quite amusing. :D
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Vonz90
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Re: Need a construction guy's help

Post by Vonz90 »

I would probably put in a vinyl beadboard ceiling, like is done on porches.

http://www.homeconstructionimprovement. ... for-porch/
rightisright
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Re: Need a construction guy's help

Post by rightisright »

Vonz90 wrote:I would probably put in a vinyl beadboard ceiling, like is done on porches.

http://www.homeconstructionimprovement. ... for-porch/
That is not going to add any structural integrity.

JAG, send me some pix/drawings. This is in my wheelhouse and I have a structural PE on retainer.
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Steamforger
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Re: Need a construction guy's help

Post by Steamforger »

Sorry, I do terribly little (read none) residential. I'm all capital projects with ancient infrastructure.
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JAG2955
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Re: Need a construction guy's help

Post by JAG2955 »

rightisright wrote:
Vonz90 wrote:I would probably put in a vinyl beadboard ceiling, like is done on porches.

http://www.homeconstructionimprovement. ... for-porch/
That is not going to add any structural integrity.

JAG, send me some pix/drawings. This is in my wheelhouse and I have a structural PE on retainer.
Was thinking of you when I made the post. I can probably get a pic tomorrow. Any concern with the wall, or do you need pics for that as well?
BDK
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Re: Need a construction guy's help

Post by BDK »

Hmm. Could be a great thread... We are fighting two "mysterious, but occasional, and significant roof leaks"...
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Vonz90
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Re: Need a construction guy's help

Post by Vonz90 »

rightisright wrote:
Vonz90 wrote:I would probably put in a vinyl beadboard ceiling, like is done on porches.

http://www.homeconstructionimprovement. ... for-porch/
That is not going to add any structural integrity.

JAG, send me some pix/drawings. This is in my wheelhouse and I have a structural PE on retainer.
The beadboard is for the aesthetics (and it won't crack or whatever over time). You take down the drywall (which shouldn't be used for an exterior anyway) and screw up some sheathing for structure. Then the beadboard goes over the sheathing for looks.

You have to put the sheathing first even if you don't care about adding structure because vinyl will sag between the ceiling joist if you don't.

This is pretty standard for porches, etc.
rightisright
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Re: Need a construction guy's help

Post by rightisright »

You can go right over the drywall w. some T1-11, CDX or OSB (if you want to save some money). Use structural screws (Spax, GRX, Simpson) that will penetrate 2" into the ceiling joists. That will help prevent lateral movement or "racking". Are the carport walls standard studs and plywood? If they are, combined w. a standard roof, that should be enough to prevent racking. The ceiling fix will help, but shouldn't need to be done if the wall/roof sheathing is properly installed.

Kinda hard to advise on the wall/rafter situation w.o seeing it. But, Simpson makes various "hurricane clips" for tying wall plates to rafters to prevent uplift.

http://www.fastenersplus.com/Simpson-H8 ... oC-Tjw_wcB

http://www.fastenersplus.com/Simpson-H1 ... oCpGjw_wcB
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Weetabix
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Re: Need a construction guy's help

Post by Weetabix »

JAG2955 wrote:
rightisright wrote:
Vonz90 wrote:I would probably put in a vinyl beadboard ceiling, like is done on porches.

http://www.homeconstructionimprovement. ... for-porch/
That is not going to add any structural integrity.

JAG, send me some pix/drawings. This is in my wheelhouse and I have a structural PE on retainer.
Was thinking of you when I made the post. I can probably get a pic tomorrow. Any concern with the wall, or do you need pics for that as well?
I do more foundation review by photo than stuff above ground, but I'm going to chime in on photos for rightisright here.

Get photos of the entire front, back, and sides of the house with a bit of air on right and left, sky on top, and grass on the bottom
Get closer photos of the area of concern that show context of the problem. You'll want to show the connecting structures to the problem area.
Higher res is better so he can zoom in on areas he needs to see better.

I get photos of a close up of a crack in a concrete foundation wall with no context, and they'll ask, "What's causing this?" Close ups of a crack are fine if you have the stuff listed above.

This thread makes me think that if we ever get the wiki going again, it might be cool to have a place where we can all list what we do so that if someone needs advice they kind of know where to look to see if they "know a guy." ;)
Note to self: start reading sig lines. They're actually quite amusing. :D
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