There is an exterior 10 ft wall to the garage that is made of 2x6 studs at
approx 16 inch centers. Upon examining the tile roof line, that 'external'
wall may be not a supporting wall at all. I can double check in the attic,
but most of this house construction uses 'floating' walls.

I want to cut a 36 inch wide 8 foot door into the garage from a storage
room. The cut exactly removes two studs. By code there is supposed to be a
fireblock at 8 foot height in this wall anyway, but those are inserted
short 2x6 pieces.

I plan on clearing out everything in that 3 panel area, temporarily
leaving the 2 studs. To put in the door requires two 8 foot long 2x6
sistered to each of the two outside studs. That leaves a very strong
support at the top for a 'header'.

Does anybody have experience doing this?

Questions:
1. How large, what type, header? can I use something like four 2x6's
across the top? Or should these be four 2x8's ?? Or, should be a more
solid block? After the header is installed the two cut studs' weight will
be on that header.
2. Is it super dangerous to sever those two studs WITHOUT providing some
type of external support for the ceiling in some other way? Or, are these
roofing systems over designed enough to allow a one day
removal/replacement without all falling down?

Robert,

There is an exterior 10 ft wall to the garage that is made of 2x6
studs at approx 16 inch centers. Upon examining the tile roof line,
that 'external' wall may be not a supporting wall at all. I can
double check in the attic, but most of this house construction uses
'floating' walls.

How is an "external" wall "floating"?

A typical gable roof would normally have bearing walls on the sides the
rafters sit on, and non bearing walls on the two gable ends.

A hip roof bears weight on all four walls.

I want to cut a 36 inch wide 8 foot door into the garage from a
storage room.

1. How large, what type, header? can I use something like four 2x6's
across the top? Or should these be four 2x8's?

Impossible to say without knowing what that header is supporting. If it's
a non-bearing wall, you technically wouldn't need a header at all (though
I would still put one in). If you've got two stories with long joist
spans, a library, fish tanks, and a tile roof above, you'll probably need
a much larger header.

My house is a single story, and the headers only support the roof. I used
two 2x10's with insulation in between throughout the house for all
openings.

2. Is it super dangerous to sever those two studs WITHOUT providing
some type of external support for the ceiling in some other way?

Why risk it? Just erect a temporary support wall just inside the room to
support the roof while you work on the wall.

If you don't mind patching the siding and interior finish, you could "let
in" the support headers. Basically, remove the siding and cut a notch in
each stud the thickness of the header board. Knock out the waste then
slip in and secure the header board. Repeat for the second header board
on the interior side of the wall. Add the jack studs to support the
header at each end, then you can safely cut out the middle studs under
the header.

Good luck!

Anthony Watson
www.mountainsoftware.com
www.watsondiy.com

On Tuesday, September 9, 2014 11:11:33 AM UTC-4, HerHusband wrote:
Robert,



There is an exterior 10 ft wall to the garage that is made of 2x6

studs at approx 16 inch centers. Upon examining the tile roof line,

that 'external' wall may be not a supporting wall at all. I can

double check in the attic, but most of this house construction uses

'floating' walls.



How is an "external" wall "floating"?



+1

Sure sounds like it's a load bearing wall.






1. How large, what type, header? can I use something like four 2x6's

across the top? Or should these be four 2x8's?



Impossible to say without knowing what that header is supporting. If it's

a non-bearing wall, you technically wouldn't need a header at all (though

I would still put one in). If you've got two stories with long joist

spans, a library, fish tanks, and a tile roof above, you'll probably need

a much larger header.


Actually I think you can say without knowing what the header is
supporting. He's removing two existing studs to make
the opening. As long as what he puts in there is sufficient to carry
the max load that those two studs were capable of carrying, then he's
at least equaled what is already there.

"RobertMacy" wrote in message newsp.xlxcmzq82cx0wh@ajm...
There is an exterior 10 ft wall to the garage that is made of 2x6 studs at
approx 16 inch centers. Upon examining the tile roof line, that 'external'
wall may be not a supporting wall at all. I can double check in the attic,
but most of this house construction uses 'floating' walls.

I want to cut a 36 inch wide 8 foot door into the garage from a storage
room. The cut exactly removes two studs. By code there is supposed to be a
fireblock at 8 foot height in this wall anyway, but those are inserted
short 2x6 pieces.

I plan on clearing out everything in that 3 panel area, temporarily
leaving the 2 studs. To put in the door requires two 8 foot long 2x6
sistered to each of the two outside studs. That leaves a very strong
support at the top for a 'header'.

Does anybody have experience doing this?

Questions:
1. How large, what type, header? can I use something like four 2x6's
across the top? Or should these be four 2x8's ?? Or, should be a more
solid block? After the header is installed the two cut studs' weight will
be on that header.
2. Is it super dangerous to sever those two studs WITHOUT providing some
type of external support for the ceiling in some other way? Or, are these
roofing systems over designed enough to allow a one day
removal/replacement without all falling down?

Similar situation with me - I put an exterior door between the garage and house. Best decision I made was hiring a carpenter for $250 plus the cost of the door & materials. 3 hours later and it was done to code, plus he showed me everything he did so I would know it was to code. No trips to Home Depot, no following bad advice from people guessing online....

As others said, it's not clear what it's supporting.
If it's just the roof then 2x6 is plenty. 1 floor above?
I'm not sure. Probably 2x8 in that case. And 2x12 for
2 floors above. That's for normal 2x4 framing. (Two
2xs plus 1/2" plywood.) You'll be able to fit at least
3 2xs, as you said.

There shouldn't be any problem cutting out the studs
without support and then putting in the header. Note
what happens when you cut them. Assuming you're using
soimething like a saber saw to cut across them before
removing, if they're bearing significant weight the saw will
bind at the end. What usually happens is that there's a
gap from the saw blade, showing that the weight above
is not sagging. If you didn't put in a header it would likely
sag over time, but it's not like a finger-in-the-dike scenario
where it all falls down if you pull out a stud.


"RobertMacy" wrote in message
newsp.xlxcmzq82cx0wh@ajm...
| There is an exterior 10 ft wall to the garage that is made of 2x6 studs at
| approx 16 inch centers. Upon examining the tile roof line, that 'external'
| wall may be not a supporting wall at all. I can double check in the attic,
| but most of this house construction uses 'floating' walls.
|
| I want to cut a 36 inch wide 8 foot door into the garage from a storage
| room. The cut exactly removes two studs. By code there is supposed to be a
| fireblock at 8 foot height in this wall anyway, but those are inserted
| short 2x6 pieces.
|
| I plan on clearing out everything in that 3 panel area, temporarily
| leaving the 2 studs. To put in the door requires two 8 foot long 2x6
| sistered to each of the two outside studs. That leaves a very strong
| support at the top for a 'header'.
|
| Does anybody have experience doing this?
|
| Questions:
| 1. How large, what type, header? can I use something like four 2x6's
| across the top? Or should these be four 2x8's ?? Or, should be a more
| solid block? After the header is installed the two cut studs' weight will
| be on that header.
| 2. Is it super dangerous to sever those two studs WITHOUT providing some
| type of external support for the ceiling in some other way? Or, are these
| roofing systems over designed enough to allow a one day
| removal/replacement without all falling down?
|
|
|
|

On Tue, 09 Sep 2014 08:11:33 -0700, HerHusband wrote:

...snip to keep Aioe happy...

If you don't mind patching the siding and interior finish, you could "let
in" the support headers. Basically, remove the siding and cut a notch in
each stud the thickness of the header board. Knock out the waste then
slip in and secure the header board. Repeat for the second header board
on the interior side of the wall. Add the jack studs to support the
header at each end, then you can safely cut out the middle studs under
the header.

Good luck!

Anthony Watson
www.mountainsoftware.com
www.watsondiy.com

it is a single story and all the roof is hipped. In the patio areas, the
exterior wall is floating with no appreciable weight on them. But haven't
looked at this garage are to be sure.

When I remove the two studs, I will be cutting/clearing within the area
clear to the top. That gives me access to the two pieces sticking down and
indeed I can attach support directly to them as I cut them out. something
like fake studs inside the house and fake studs outside the house [in the
garage] and BOLT a short something between them all WAIT! simply triangle
them from where they're cut down to the floor/earth whatever! I see a way
this could be done without ever compromising the support ability! Great
suggestion thank you.