What began as a shingling job after the recent torrential downpours, became a resuscitation of an old garage with a sagging roof.  Years ago, any hammer swinging Joe could bang together a garage and build their own trusses from scratch.  For good reason, the city mandated that future trusses be engineered, as many home built roofs began to look like horses’ saddles after several years.  Swinging Joe didn’t clench the nails, use glue, cut angles precisely, or really do a proper job of it at all.  The results are below.

Giddy-up!!  There is over three inches of sag from end to end, putting a damper on a home sales in the future, so a solution is needed short of a tear-down and rebuild.  As the existing trusses aren’t structurally sound, a truss spanning the length of the garage will be built to aid support.

First came shoring from below, directly under each truss.

Travelling back and forth with a car jack and 4×4, each section was raised a little at a time and a shim placed underneath.  Eventually, they were replaced with pieces of 2×6 and more shims placed atop that.  Creaking and moaning, I let it rest overnight, and continued the next day, coaxing it into shape.

Once that was done, a hand-built truss spanning from end to end was built.  This is not new construction, so “grandfathered in”.

With the structure in place, a come-along was used to pull things as tight as possible, and brackets were added to each truss to make them “structural members”.  I’m not going to say it didn’t sag a little once I took out the shoring, because it did, but it is far better than what was.

Strangely enough, the garage door opens better, as does the man door.  Go figure!  The truss now transfers weight to the end walls, where structure exists to support it, and re-shingling can began.

Stripping, repair of a few boards, and a true gift for myself and all the neighbors – no more squeaking turbine.

Aside from the heat, roofing was uneventful, and once complete, a pleasure to behold!

The decking was put in place to protect our garden, and provide staging for hand-bombing bundles of shingles.  This was easier than imagined once a method was found, but a ladder hoist will be used for the house.  That night that it rained buckets – again – and the garage remained dry.  If ever there was going to be a leak, it would have been then.  Replacing insulation and some ceiling repair is now all that remains.