tennball81 Posted August 18, 2016 Share Posted August 18, 2016 So some of you know from my last thread that I was contemplating on the height of my doors and windows with a 9' ceiling. Well I have decided to go with a 6'8 door and transom that will take me to 8'. I will also put my windows at 8'. Question is how are you guys framing for your header? I have 2x6 exterior walls, so are you using 2x10 or 2x10 with stud on the bottom. Just a 2x10 will put the bottom of the header at 96 7/8 and if I put a stud on the bottom that will drop me to 95 3/8. My doors say 95 5/8 rough with an actual height of 95 1/8. I have some 8' and 9' openings that I will have to span and I would think that a triple 2x10 (since I have 2x6 walls) will span 9'. What are you guys thoughts? Just leave the stud out and run the 2x10 and have the extra wiggle room? Do you think this is to much room though? Thanks Shaun Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tennball81 Posted August 18, 2016 Author Share Posted August 18, 2016 Or actually are your framers even using a triple 2x for a header? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
justmejerry Posted August 18, 2016 Share Posted August 18, 2016 Your header will be dependant on the width of opening/door/window and the span of the floor/roof it supports. LVL is the way to go to get most strength for least depth. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tennball81 Posted August 18, 2016 Author Share Posted August 18, 2016 Widest opening is 9' supporting a floor above. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dshall Posted August 18, 2016 Share Posted August 18, 2016 Widest opening is 9' supporting a floor above. Is that supporting a 10' floor load or a 30' floor load and is there a roof bearing on the wall and is the roof a 10' roof load or a 30' truss roof load and do you have a snow load on the roof and are you thinking of using #2 lumber or #1 lumber? Oh heck, throw a 4x10 in there, that should work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
justmejerry Posted August 18, 2016 Share Posted August 18, 2016 This may give some idea of what to use if you want to use something other than nominal lumber. Each manufacturer has their own span tables but I would recommend an engineer go over the plan. TJ-9000.pdf Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tennball81 Posted August 18, 2016 Author Share Posted August 18, 2016 That window will be below the living room with 24" floor trusses on top of it, bearing a roof made of trusses with no snow load. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Canuck Posted August 18, 2016 Share Posted August 18, 2016 I'd go with Forte and let the software do the proper calculations for you. http://www.woodbywy.com/software/forte-software/ Software is free, and has printable pdfs. If the data confuses you, hire an engineer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard_Morrison Posted August 18, 2016 Share Posted August 18, 2016 If you can't state with some assurance how many pounds per linear foot of design load the header is carrying, and whether there are any additional point loads, you are way over your head with the engineering, and any discussion on this forum is pointless. Hire an engineer. The only thing the free engineering software will do is give you a false sense of security and let you make mistakes even more quickly. Engineering is not something you want to learn on the fly. EDIT: BTW, According to ASCE 7, there is a 10 PSF snow load that needs to be designed for. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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