well done. clear instructions, no fluff, several useful tips that I wish I had known last year before lifting a 1000 lb beam into place!!

I have a detached garage with unfinished walls and ceiling, that's framed exactly like the model '25 x '30. And this video is what I was looking for, been brainstorming how to raise the ceiling to use the garage as a work shop. Great video!!

this was exactly what I was looking for, well explained and sound from the engineering side! Excellent! thanks so much!

OMG, you just saved me a ton of headaches, once again!!! I was trying to figure out how to get a ridge beam up over the rafter ties, which are already 10' over the finish floor. man, i came up with some crazy medieval contraptions thatwould've made Davinci proud, but this is just ridiculously easy! Thanks agaiin!!! Love your videos!

I remodeled a 100 year old condemned house and we did exactly this because the ridge was severely sagging. There were no trusses however but we cut loose all the original rafters and had attached new 2x6s onto them. We then jacked the new beam up into place literally pushing the original ridge beam out of the top of the roof. We used 12 ton bottle jacks on each end and had tripled the wall studs/posts under the jack points.

This helped so much. I’ve been trying to engineer some thing in my head and have been getting paralysis from over analysis lol. I’m converting a 70s concession stand up above my race track into my temporary new home and future VRBO and I think this would just be awesome. Everything is tin at the moment And it needs some life to it

When your spouse keeps on asking for vaulted ceilings in an old house, you simply play them this clip and also explain that the entire roof deck will need to be redone for your cold climate. Discussion over 😂

Stumbled across this quite by accident. I'm not a carpenter or engineer, by trade, but I've wanted to do this in my family room and connected kitchen for some time. Was told by carpenters that it wasn't possible, that the roof would likely collapse. That didn't make sense to me since you would likely start by sistering 2x6s or 8s to the rafter part of the truss. I'm going to share your video with a local engineer and go from there. Loved the video. Thank you for sharing. Larry Altman

Vid is very educational & informative for the layman as I am! thanks Greg, keep em coming!

Fantastic Video. Have a client looking for this exact build. Now I can contact the engineers and move forward. Thank you so much!!!

I found this channel while trying to figure out why every shed replacement I was looking at seemed to have no rafter ties or proper beam support. Drove me nuts. "They're just sheds" I guess they say. Well, if my original shed had been built correctly, I wouldn't be replacing it. 2 weeks later, I am going to build something that should likely support a locomotive on the roof.

I found this video because I was pondering if it would be possible to convert our ceilings to a vaulted ceiling. I sort of expected it to be undesirable. Your way looks really nice and strong. Now I just have to get the money together to pay someone to do it. :) I'd like to think it's a DIY job, but not without a team of experienced workers to help do it. I know my limits, and this one is going as far as knowing what I want a contractor to do for me.

Dude you knocked this video out of the park, really great job

Exactly what I had in mind. Just needed an expert's explanation. Many thanks! 👍

Great talk about the conversion... I might add that the roof needs to be designed as a rigid diaphragm to more efficiently transfer lateral loads to the perimeter walls which will put limits to the length and height of the beam/post design. Also, might add that uplift may govern the design in some cases especially if one end is open, i.e. like a garage or patio

This is super helpful. Thanks for making this video. I wonder how you would go about installing tongue and groove or shiplaps as a finish?

Thank you so much for sharing your wealth of knowledge. So clear and precise. Such a blessing!

These are fantastic videos!! Thank you!

Phenomenal information. Thanks for this.

I was thinking of doing something like this, but I was concerned about aligning all the rafters so that the beam would lift into place but not leave a gap between the rafters and ridge beam. Normally you install the rafters individually to the ridge beam so a tight fit is easier to achieve, but here tolerances matter as you are fitting to many rafters at once.

Very helpfull Greg, thankyou.

This worked great for us, thanks!

Excellent video explanation. Thanks for sharing 👍

This was a great video. Thanks!

Extremely well done. Than you!!

Great video, Thanks! Just what I needed...

Thank you for letting me know Greg.

Great video thank you!!👍🏽

Great video. Thank you.

Very helpful - thanks!

thanks for taking the time to make this video very informative.

Awesome explanation. Thank you!

So at the end you would remove the truss's remaining chord and ceiling joist and also the channel supports for raising the beam. The only thing that would remain from the truss would be the rafter part? Thanks.

Hi Greg. Thanks for the beam raising trick. Very DIY oriented. Bringing the topic of trusses and rafters, could you please explain using plywood gusset instead of metal connectors in trusses. Unfortunately there are no truss factories nor that kind of structural engineers over here. It will help me taking my carpentry skills to the next level. Especially that maximum lumber length here is 12'-10" which limits the run and the pitch when using rafters.

Can you do this with only half of the trusses? For example if you wanted to cut out a space for a loft but didn't want to remove them all, just essentially remove 1/4 section.

Good info! I don’t know what certain terms mean, but I get overall idea…

Awesome i really want to get of my cieling dry wall and build by walls on the way up where the room divides. Build a loft like storage with a ladder in every room with a ladder to climb up. Use foam to insulate and put big sky lights on the roof instead. And rerun the electric, pipes, and a/c vents neatly and make it look industrial

any thoughts on how to get the top rafter strap in across the top? alternatives like some kind of tie through the original ridge blocking?

Very helpful. Thank you very much.

your videos re fantastic - thanks!

Wow, very clever (my highest compliment). I need to alter my engineered trusses to add space above a car lift in my 25X40' garage/shop. No one is interested; they tell me I have to replace the existing trusses with new engineered trusses. How do I find an engineer locally to design the alteration with your rafter method?

Make sure you check reactions on the beam ends. You might need to add a larger footing condition @ both ends of the run. Typical footings can only take so much load transfer, based on depth and width.

Thank you. Great idea

Awesome representation

Amazing instructions

Perfectly explained...

Hey sir I have a question, would a beam in the middle of the roof be needed if only one room of the building is vaulted ceiling and everything else is flat ceiling? Every room will have ceiling joists and only one room will be vaulted.

Thank you!

Gonna go ahead and cross this off the ol DIY list

This is a fantastic video! I'm working on a 30' wide pole building with trusses 48"OC where the previous occupant cut out 4 trusses and "re-engineered" them to allow for motor-home clearance. I like the extra clearance so I have been considering engineered I joist until I came across this. Would it be better to use the I joists 48" OC the rafters 24"OC? Do you have a better suggestion where I can retain the ceiling space in this 16' area of the building?

Have a 36 x 20 attached garage. Great video, but my thoughts are to make that a giant room above. Might be almost as easy to take off the roof, remove the trusses, then frame conventionally. Cleaner approach but wasting the remaining years of the roof. Maybe the roof plywood could be salvaged?

Thanks for confirming that I am not insane. Sounds like an expensive project since I also plan to lower the garage ceiling at the same time.

Great work

Help us out with how we should insulate this type of ceiling and how can we create spacing for condensation and drywall. Exc.

I'm curious if steel brackets and flitch plates could serve the same purpose of a ridge beam. Maybe this is nonsense but I thought I'd at least explore the idea. In my case I have no ridge board, my rafters meet face to face. The idea is to make large 1/4" steel brackets with through bolts that bolt to the sides of the rafters where they meet at the top. These brackets would be following the rafter size and angle, basically the shape of a boomerang and around 1 foot long on each leg. Then bolt a flitch plate along the side of each rafter and mechanically tie it into the top brackets. This solution makes sense to me as an alternative because it seems the only problem with removing the rafter ties is the roof is now able to bow and the rafters could spread away from each other from the downward force and in turn push the walls outward. But with a solid mechanical connection at the top and flitched rafters I don't see how any bowing or pushing movement would be possible.

All this did was confirm that I will NOT be undertaking this project. Thanks!

Thanks Greg. What is the best way to get the rafters in to my attic? I've removed the gypsum and insulation from my ceiling, I thought I could just slide them up but the middle wall is too high. Do you think I might be able to cut a small hole in the roof and get them in that way?

Thank You

Thank you for your time in all you do,but I had seen this being your first video I hope to see more have a nice day. Catch you later.

Awesome video. Could I just modify the existing flat ceiling truss to a scissor truss, as opposed to a raising a ridge beam with a true vault and rafters?

Nice video, but, at 5:58 now that you've cut the center of 2x4s out there's nothing stopping the walls from being pushed out from the weight of the roof. Unless thats a slow process that happens over time, not a couple days?

can i move one of my garage web in the attic from the tilt position to vertical position so i can make a hole to transient through to the rest of the attic ?

If you need to take the roofing and sheathing off, would it be more efficient and faster to redo the framing with the ridge beam and rafters, or is this the most efficient way to deal with this kind of modification? Does the situation/response change if I am also extending the roofline out?

Hi Greg, for the ridge beam conversion....structurally speaking....would you ever just use the the existing 2x4s from the trusses instead of adding rafters connected to them?

So in the video you mention if you wanted to move the ridge blocks you'd need to remove the sheathing on the roof and re nail. I'd imagine at some point in depth into a project like this it would be easier and maybe more cost effective and less labor intensive to just strip the roof off and restart. Get pre engineered pre assembled trusses and just build a whole new roof. Am I correct on this thinking?

How would you break down the cost of a project like this? Great video! I may be working on a brick house raising the ceiling. Havent seen the house yet.

Love it.

Hello I have question regarding my second floor the staircase are currently 3 feet wide each step. I would like to make it 5 feet wide but I have a joint both on left and right of stairs stoping me from making it wider. What do you suggest I can do? Thanks

What if there is no existing beam (2x4 beam) In the center of the roof ? Could i cut the very center after done with the support? To put the beam in..?

Greg, Like Ramona I am looking for the follow up video to see how you finished the framing. thanks

Looking for a video on how to do slopes ceilings

The temporary wall layout would not work unless those studs are sheathed or braced by something in their weak axis as they will buckle. You can get creative with various angled braces, but sticking osb on them without too much nailing part of the way up may be the easiest way.

The 2x4 wall you used to support the rafters is basically the hallway that runs through my house. I would like to ditch the beam all together. Is that possible. Would I still need to install the rafters. My house is 25ft wide. Hallway 4ft wide. I would really appreciate your response. Thank you

pretty cool, thanks for explaining that! It still boggles my mind that putting a giant heavy beam way up in the air somehow stops a structure from falling down. I know there's math, but it seems counter intuitive. Could you explain the physics/forces of how that beam works?

At 6 minutes when you cutout the lower web, what prevents the outer walls from pushing out without having any collar ties?

Sorry for digging up an old video, but I was wondering if the ground to ceiling supports stay in place or if they are removed? I think you referred to them as walls at one stage.

Thanks so much. DIY op. 👍

Do you draw these designs I see? do you advise on different roof designs, etc? I want to raise my ceiling and the only way to do it is raise the walls or put a wall on top of my wall.

Can this be performed on only a section of a house? I'd like to do this to the end of my house where the living room and kitchen is.

How would you do an over hang on the ridge side? Make a longer beam, but what about the roof rafter,? Do you nail a 2by on the ends of the rafter tails and run it long?

You da man!

Hello can you tell me how make fit a rafter /2/ 2x12 when the house it’s finished and frame and it’s and my way walls.

Great video. How much do you think a project like this would cost today ? I know varies by region and such . I’m in Florida. Just looking for a general / reasonable idea of potential cost.

Pure Freaking Genius!

Why can't you pull all the roofing material off. Cut the nails where the trusts meet the walls. Call in a crane. Lift the entire section of trusts off into the air. Then build 2ft walls and screw then into the top of the walls already there which would change the ceiling height from 8ft to 10ft. Then lower the trusts back down. Wouldn't that work and be easier and cheaper?

If I was placing the 2nd story on a 5/12 truss roof could I use open web floor trusses expanding the full width of structure (since the load factor with the current roof trusses is the outside walls of the structure) and install the floor trusses (32' long x 24" thick) from one side of the structure to the other side of the structure (outside walls) and then screw and glue every roof truss to the floor truss where they touch (every 18") and then remove the part of the roof truss that extends above the floor truss so that a standard framed room could be built on the floor joist trusses?

when I did a remodel the rafter extended to the end of the ceiling joist and the whole truss extended beyond the outside wall to make the eaves ..your version is the old craftsman without a soffit

I know this is an older video. But i was wondering if an engineered truss can be altered? Will this pass inspection?

My house didn't have the middle support peice. The engineer said we can put the ridge beam below the existing ridge beam structure so the rafters will not be attached to the new ridge beam like this. I don't really understand what the new beam will be connected to. The beam will be supported by posts at the ends and one in the middle that goes to the basement.

I am about to do something similar. The structural engineer advised that we needed to put an entirely new beam basement and new Wally columns. Can you explain why this would impact the basement?

What's going to keep the side walls from being pushed out? Especially in the middle where they are far from the end walls. The bottom of the trusses could have helped do that, but once they're removed, it seems there's only the stiffness of the walls.

Hi Greg, I have a house with stupid flat metal roof. Now if the big rain , some water come though the ceiling and I can see the black mark in there. I want to change the flat roof to the fitched roof. Can you tell me where is your company workshop please. Thank you.

What if your only replacing a section in the center with conventional framing, is there a way to support the ends without a post?

Is the beam necessary? Can't your new rafters just extend all the way up to touch on the crown?

How much would a 2 car garage vaulting cost- very rough estimate if you do all the work? I feel like it’s an out of reach dream idea for my garage to recording studio conversion but this video gives me hope (hopefully not false hope!!! Haha).

Can I leave the trusses alone and add 2x10 or 2x12 so I can hang stuff from my garage ceiling or so I can install storage above my garage?

What size board is recommended for the trusses. 2x6 or bigger and what size should the beam be. My room is 20x17 beam is 17ft.

With the supporting post would you need to have one in the basement underneath as well? Or just on main floor as shown in video

What you're proposing will not work if you need a decent R-factor insulation. R-49 requires 14" plus gap for airflow. Can you design something for that?

Seems like this changes the lateral force along the outside walls after removing the bottom chord of the truss. Have you ever seen issues with the outside walls bowing or failing?