Raising garage ceiling joists?

[PaulMcCulloh]

The two-car garage of our ranch-style home has 8' ceiling joists (no trusses). The garage is on the small side--19' x 19'--and as could be expected with this type of home, the pitch of the roof is quite low.

I would like to enclose a little over half of the garage for use as a studio, adding a floor, walls and a ceiling within the existing walls/roof.

In one scenario, the ceiling would be peaked perpendicular to the joists. What are my options as far as raising the existing joists, or raising a few feet of each joist? Can I reattach them higher up, strengthening if necessary?

A second scenario would be to peak the ceiling parallel to the joists. Is it possible to remove one joist, doubling up or otherwise strengthening the remaining joists to compensate? How about two adjacent joists? I notice there is at least one place, if not two, where joists "should" be, but are not (i.e., no joist adjoining existing rafters). I do not believe anything was removed, just that at least one was "skipped" (on purpose, I'm assuming) during construction. Under this second scenario, might this be a location where a joist or beam could be added (at 8') to compensate for removing one joist or two joists elsewhere?

Thanks very much!

Paul McCulloh

[Snoonyb]

In your area, is there a requirement for covered off street parking and in doing what you propose, can you satisfy that requirement?
A carpenters truss consists of two opposing rafters and a parallel horizontal
framing member nailed together at each end with a minimum of 5-16D nails.
These commonly occur at 48" oc. and are holding the place together.
"Bending" these requires dislodging one end, negating the "tie" function, and severely affecting the integrity of the opposing ends connection.
You will also be transfering load bearing from a foundation to a slab.

[PaulMcCulloh]

Okay, thanks Snoonyb. Didn't know about the off-street parking issue. Appreciate the help.

Paul

[twelvepole]

Check with your local building inspector regarding codes,permits, & inspections regarding changes to your structure. Checking in with the local building inspector with your plans can save you money and prevent problems that may affect resale value.