Removing Attic Braces

Every so often i ll crawl into an attic without any attic bracing.

Removing attic braces.

I have this above my own garage. Purlins as shown in sample photos below are installed for rafter support. The studs would run through the middle of the frame. In order to gain space while still supporting the roof adequately you will need to build a short support or pony wall to run along each side of your attic before removing the the webbing braces in your trusses.

Usually these are older home built in the 30 s through the 50 s however i ve seen inadequate attic bracing on homes of all ages. I added a picture of the roof directly above the brace i am asking about. They don t look as if they were meant to be permanent so i wanted to know if from a structural standpoint they are really needed. Click the images to enlarge into a new window.

If the roof slope is steeper than 9 inches in 12 inches of run it doesn t take much width to end up with a nice room 12 feet wide with an 8 foot ceiling. The braces struts or kickers should be within every 4 and should not be at a greater than a 45 degree angle towards the roof slope lower side. The problem is that there are 1x4 braces where i want to put my 2x4 studs. Sagging rafters are a sign that a house is in serious trouble.

Attic trusses have a rectangular shape inside each truss. Let s start our discussion by looking at the proper way to brace an attic. Tape measure chalk line 2 by 4 inch boards. I want to run 4 horizontal 2x4s and add a plywood sheet to use as storage in my attic.

I laid on my back to take the shot in that picture the roof slopes downward to the right. An important notation is that the purlin bracing should be off of walls or beams as needed. Install the rest of the braces on that side of the attic then install the braces on the other side of the attic using the same method. You can see perpendicular cross braces above the trusses between the trusses and the roof sheathing.

When sagging gets too severe it can lead to roof collapse and once the roof goes the house won t last for long. Look at this photo of the space created by attic trusses at my home.