cibula11

It's the weekend, otherwise I'd just give my building inspector a call. I am in the beginning stages of our garage conversion. I will be framing in the garage door after I pour concrete to extend the curb. He told me to use hurricane ties and I forgot to ask him where specifically he was talking about. Anyone have ideas on WHERE I would use these straps on framing in the wall?

travelover

I think hurricane ties are metal straps that secure the roof joists / trusses to the wall to prevent lift off from high winds. They are placed on every joist to wall interface.

Marsh Fasteners-HURRICANE TIES & STRAPS - Stainless Steel

cibula11

I know what the straps are, but there is a huge header that spans the current opening, so the wall that I will build will, for the most part, have NO load on it. It's just to fill in the opening. I will be removing the 2x4 ceiling and installing collar ties 4 ft up from the bottom of the joist, so he could mean there, but I doubt it.

mudmixer

Make sure you have enough anchor bolts that prevent you from being in the return of "The Wizard of Oz".

If it is not tied down to the foundation, the hurricane clips do nothing since a tornado or good wind storm can over-shadow a hurricane. Also, make sure the framers put nuts and washers on the anchor bolts since they are notorious for losing them.

Dick

travelover

The basic concept is to keep wind from lifting the garage off the foundation, so you need a strong load path from the roof joists all the way down to the foundation. The straps span the areas that are weak in tension (like nailed joints). So, even though the header over the old garage door is strong in compression, in tension as in a wind load, it is still weak.

Hurricane Straps, Clips, & Anchor Bolts - BobVila.com

cibula11

Good points. I'll make sure to put 3-4 anchor bolts with nuts and washers on the new curb. And, depending on what my inspector says, I'll strap the new wall with the existing, top, middle, and bottom on each side.

I actually thought about using thru bolts top and bottom through the old and new wall studs to join them as one. I suppose either way would be effective.