Calling All Carpenters!!!

[Seaboard Air Line Fan]

HELP!

I need to relocate some "stuff" that's occupying space in my upstairs that I want to use of the expansion of my RR empire.

The original part of the house is old (1943) and has close to a 12" pitch. The upstairs has 3' kneewalls on front and back.

Back in 2000 we had a room added on along the back side of the house, tied into the roof on the back of the original house.

There's storage space (attic) above the room addition which I currently can access thru a 25"x25" hatch in the ceiling. The ceiling hatch makes it hard to get boxes up into the storage area.

Here's what I want to do...I want to cut one of the original house rafters at the kneewall and open a hole in the roof that is covered by the peak of the back room addition. Cutting just 1 will give me an approx. 30"x30" opening to allow access to the back room attic thru the upstairs part of the old house. The door will be under my layout, I will have to crawl under the layout to get stuff into the room addition attic but that's better than the present method of climbing up thru a hatch.

I drew a quick sketch of what things look like:

rafter mod 1.jpg (537.25 KiB) Viewed 6656 times

the bottom of the sketch above is the front of the house (should have made my writing follow the front, sorry)

This next sketch shows the roof, looking from front to back (and on the right of the paper is a side view) and really shows what I want to do:

rafter mod side view.jpg (313.19 KiB) Viewed 6656 times

The piece of rafter that is dark is the piece I need to cut out.

Clear as mud right?

All the wood is actual size (2x8 is a REAL 2"x8" piece of wood).

With 16" centers on the rafters and other joists, do you guys think cutting out that single piece of rafter will weaken the structural properties of the house?

Once I cut it out I'll make a door with a good seal and throw some insulation on the rafters of the room addition attic (a bit chilly up there right now)

There's plenty of space left in this attic to store what I need to and it will free up the rest of the upstairs so I can enlarge my empire.

[robert.]

You can probably cut it with no problem. for $10. and a piece of mind you could cut at 34 inches and the support it with a 4x4 screwed into the other 2. But then again you called on carpenters not engineers.

[Seaboard Air Line Fan]

Thanks Robert!

I figured I'd put some sort of header in there to be safe.

In my 2nd house the attached garage (at one end of the house) ceiling was 11 or 12 feet. I wanted to lower the ceiling and make a decent room above.

My dad did all the work and when he cut the last old ceiling joist loose they all sprang away from the cut maybe 1/2" with a sudden jolt!!! It was just enough to startle me, but nothing else happened (outside wall didn't fall down that is).

I think I'm talking of cutting out maybe 4 feet of rafter and the roof boards (the shingles are still on them even thought they're under the rood of the addition).

[Seaboard Air Line Fan]

Ya think I need to brace (in blue) the opening (black square)?:

door opening.jpg (464.09 KiB) Viewed 6635 times

Sorry for the poorly done isometric, not close to the roof pitch, just something I found/modified from the internet.

[E7]

Maybe some pics would help? I don't see why you are messing with roof rafters/trusses. Your drawings are sort of confusing.

Rich

[Seaboard Air Line Fan]

I was afraid of that Rich.

The second sketch in my first post probably explains it best, photos would show nothing as the walls are covered with drywall and behind/under the current layout.

Maybe I can get a photo tomorrow, there’s a place that is covered by a piece of plywood that is removable and will show the rafter that needs cutting.

[Seaboard Air Line Fan]

I found a decent photo online that should show what I want to do.

I've labeled the portion of the rafter I want to take out, from the floor to a height of 30":

door opening 2_0001.jpg (834.7 KiB) Viewed 6613 times

[chuck]

Put a cross brace (above the "R" in Remove) to keep the cut truss from twisting/shifting above the cut section. If you want to be really safe, a cross brace on the back side of the trusses spanning the cut section and two trusses on either side of the cut should stop any possible twisting from roof loading.

[Seaboard Air Line Fan]

to keep the cut truss from twisting/shifting above the cut section

That was my concern Chuck.

The interior of the original room is covered with drywall and the roof surface of the old roof (inside the attic) still has shingles on it.

Once I determine where the hole will exit thru the roof I'll cut away the shingles and roof sheathing, exposing the rafter(s), then I can get to the space above the piece I want to cut and insert a header.

I need to find a 30"x30" door, or cut an old wooden door down that I have in the garage.

[E7]

The interior of the original room is covered with drywall and the roof surface of the old roof (inside the attic) still has shingles on it.

Once I determine where the hole will exit thru the roof I'll cut away the shingles and roof sheathing, exposing the rafter(s), then I can get to the space above the piece I want to cut and insert a header.

I need to find a 30"x30" door, or cut an old wooden door down that I have in the garage.

Bob,

I agree with what Chuck says, but some things still don't make sense. How about marking your image where the stuff in red above is located!

Why wouldn't you just go 2 rafters to the left of the one you have marked remove and make an opening there that you could walk through standing up??? Guessing that the "old" roof you want to open up is at the right side of the image.

Instead of a door in the old roof, once shingles are removed, and hole is cut why not just put a piece of plywood on hinges there instead of an old door? You might even be able to salvage the piece from what you cut out. Set your saw cut to the thickness of the sheathing and be careful not to hit any nails. You might have to pull a few nails to get the piece out. If you cut out any part of the old rafters you will want to "box" them out with headers. No rocket science here.

Rich

[Seaboard Air Line Fan]

Rich,
Wish it was that easy!

The last photo I posted isn't my house, just something close I found on the net. But referencing it:

The "old" part of the house is behind where the light stand is sitting in that photo. The "new" addition is in the foreground. When they built the addition they didn't make the ridge line of the new roof as high as the old roof, maybe 1 to 1-1/2 feet lower. That partial sheeting you see in the photo...think of that as the old roof with shingles on it.

There's a 36" high knee wall inside the old house. With my layout at 36" even with the knee wall height, the only thing I can really do is make a 30" door that's below the layout. It's only going to be used for storage and once the stuff is stored, I doubt I'll be going in and out much. A 30"x30" door will allow me to put all the plastic bins I have in there with ease.

From what everyone has offered I feel like I have a handle on what I need to do, thanks!

[Seaboard Air Line Fan]

Felt bad for not explaining myself better so I took a couple of photos of what it looks like under the layout:

under layout 2.JPG (252.48 KiB) Viewed 6584 times

under layout 1.JPG (237.4 KiB) Viewed 6584 times

The piece of plywood in the photo is 1/2 of the width of the door, I will remove the drywall to the left. I'll have to relocate the outlet and vent to the right of the stud they are mounted to now.

Now I see why I have a "grade" in that area...the plywood table top wasn't fastened down!!!

A 30" door between the studs of the knee wall with some trim on the outside will look nice and give me the access I want.

[Roy]

You may be underestimating the difficulty of relocating the vent and electrical outlet. You should have a contractor who handles such modifications at least look at the situation. He can give you the best suggestions.

[Rufus T. Firefly]

I'll have to relocate the outlet and vent to the right of the stud they are mounted to now.

That could be complicated depending on whether there's any slack in the wire (probably not), and where the feed line is coming from and whether you can access it to run new to the new location. That's always a joy!

Relocating a vent can be more fun depending on how the ductwork is run in to that location.

[Seaboard Air Line Fan]

Roy/Rufus,
I've already looked behind the plywood, easy to do. Got plenty of wire and duct hanging behind the knee wall just waiting to be re-routed.