Fireguy5674

Sounds like BridgeMan is on the right track. Most of your rafter tie load may be tensile. If that is the case and you prefer the look of the tie rods, they will probably work well. Let us know what the engineer has to say.

Is the current insulation laying on the top of the ceiling tile? If so, are you planning to insulate between the rafters and drywall the bottom of the rafters? Just additonal dead load to think about which may contribute to a compression load on your rafter ties. With 30' rafter ties, a 12/12 roof pitch and assuming an 8' ceiling height that makes it about 23' to the roof peak from the floor? That is going to be quite spectacular when you get done. I don't think I would want to try to heat it though.

sab

I need to measure those rafter ties maybe there 18' (almost 3 beds long). I would like to use spray foam between the rafters (incr R value) and cover the rafters with wallboard/blueboard. The rafters are not pretty and I have to insulate like you said. At 53, I write checks now. The place isn't occupied year round so if I turn the heat on it would only be a few days (ice fishing season). However, that brings up the next issue is heat. There only a crawl space and a horzontal forced air sysem that doesn't work. The oil tank is there too (horzontal). The house mover said he wants to "move the house into the backyard so he can blast the ledge under the house" for the foundation ($50K). The house is sitting on posts/columns and there ledge that the glaciers dug up when they made the north-to-south pointing lakes in the area. The house is sitting on a Gigantic rock

nealtw

2x4 won't give you enough depth for insulation, you may want to add to them. If the roof extends past the floor, the floor would be the tie in the lower third. If you beef up the rafters perhaps you could raise the upper ties. Do you have a ridge beam supported all the way to the ground?