I am converting an attached garage into a formal dining area. The garage is on the other side of the end wall of the house where the living room and kitchen are. The garage was 2 steps down from the kitchen. I have replaced the garage door with 2 windows and raised the floor 9" using 2x8s on 16" centers.

I want to make a 6' opening between the living room and the new dinning room. This will entail removing 5 end wall studs. As the garage ceiling is lower than the house ceiling, when I measured from the bottom of the end wall top plate, (2) 2x12s would be 1" below the garage ceiling. So would 2x10s be sufficient to cover a 6' opening?

I could fill the header area with 2x12 rippep the correct width.most headers are 2 pieces 2x with plywood in the middle. Keep in mind that the cripple studs on top of the header will be a pain if they are 1 or 2 inches long.. better to fill the space with header.. just a thought