[Randy McLain]

Hello Folks, I have a rather tough question:

I have a garage that is 27 by 24 feet, and walls are 8 feet high. This is my workshop and I'd like to raise it up an additional 4 feet. Walls are 2x4 , I have no insulation or drywall, and the siding is about to be replaced. I just had the roof redone after a major hail storm several months ago.

I'd like to just raise the building itself, up the 4 feet and insert a 4' wall.

Is this a good idea? Any ideas how to do this simply and not have the building fall over?

Thanks!

[skiberger]

Your best bet would have been increase the stud length by sistering to the existing studs then re-doing the roof system. We are talking wood studded walls right?

[krobar]

Take off the roof and build a ceiling over the existing space and then increase the roof pitch of the new roof to 12/12 or better

[Randy McLain]

Yes, the walls are 2X4 with just an insulating board and the external siding. I plan to take the siding off before the lift to lighten the load.

I just had the roof repaired after the hail damage... it's a new roof. I hate to mess around with it.

I was curious if anyone has heard of actually lifting the entire building up and just inserting a wall underneath. One my of neighbors has suggested raising the building, and then pulling off the bottom sill plate and putting in a 4' cripple stud to each wall stud. So in effect I'd be lengthening each wall stud to 10'. All we'd have to do is nail on an 8' stud to the lower half of the hanging stud, and then attach the cripple stid underneath.

I am trying to figure out how to lift the building and not have it fall over.

Any other suggestions?

Thanks for the input!

Randy

[skiberger]

If your new stud length is 12' install 12' studs along side the existing 8' studs. (I think I'm understanding this correctly).

Lifting that big of building can be done if you use a series of bottle jacks, beams and cribbing. You may want to contact a company that jacks up houses.

[Randy McLain]

Wish I could find some cheap cribbing... that looks like the biggest expense on this deal...

Thanks for the suggestion!

Randy

[hobolabo]

I used 3' pieces of railroad ties for cribbing & bottle jacks to raise a barn.
Check your yellow pages for the R.R ties. I asked if they rented them since I didn't want to keep them. They said no, so I bought them, used them and sold them back to them when I finished the job. I built my shop with 10' walls and am pretty happy with it for wood working.
If you're going to 12', I would add new studs rather than sister them for safety and ease, for 10' I would consider cement block if you have a footer under your slab.
Later, Howard

[jamlove]

Hi.
Let me say that I haven't "actually" done this yet, but I've been researching the process of lifting structures extensively for months now, looking to raise my house by about 3 feet. (so far this is just a dream!)

Anyway, the one thing I wanted to say to you was: consider carefully the idea of removing the siding. The lightened load is pretty minor (each of these bottle jacks lifts 20 tons plus, so they won't care)... but the Structural support and stiffness the siding adds to the frame may be critical! If you remove it, and try to lift from the bottom, the roof weight might collapse the whole thing. Right?

I'd leave the siding on, personally. Maybe even nail extra bracing to the studs...

Best of luck with the project man!

[khernau]

Great post! My house has <a href="http://valentineroof.com/low_slope.html">low slope roofing</a>, and a pretty low garage. I would also love to add some height to it. I was thinking about just talking to a contractor and seeing what they would charge, but I know things are always cheaper when done yourself.

[ma0641]

Get a house mover to crib the structure, raise the garage and then build a frame or block short wall and set the garage back down. .