Joe Black
Registered User
I couldn't quite find the answer to this one in the other posts about bracing, but I apologize if this information is already out there. I'm building a garage with adjacent 16' wide overhead doors. Originally, these were to be 9' tall walls with 7' doors. So, I had the foundation installed to allow 3' between the doors, and 3' of wall to the right of the right door, and 16' to the left of the left door. That allowed more than the minimum of 32" of braced panel for this type of opening, according to Table R602.10.5. But, my wife talked me into buying a camper. Uh-oh. So, I want to increase the height of my walls to 12' and use 10' high doors instead. According to that same table, my bracing walls are now too narrow, as they should be 48". But, it looks like I can use portal framing techniques to accommodate this situation, which I'm comfortable with. This raises the two questions I have for this forum, and I'm a DIYer, so I really appreciate any help you all could offer:
1) Is this actually allowable? Table R602.10.5 has footnote e that says maximum wall height of 12' is alright, with 10' opening, which is cool, in accordance with figure 602.10.4. BUT, fig 602.10.4 shows that 10' is the maximum to the TOP of the header, and not the opening height. Is a 12' wall with 10' opening allowable? Using portal framing, I can have a wall as narrow as 24", but both of my "narrow" walls are 36", so it would seem that's fine.
2) Assuming that opening is allowed, how long must the header extend into the wall for portal framing? If my wall were only 24" wide, according the fig 602.10.4, it looks like my header would reach through the full width. But, I have a 36" wide wall, and if it were 48" I wouldn't even need portal framing. Would it be reasonable to extend my header 12" beyond the opening on each side? The code seems unclear on this.
I really appreciate any help. I've got a really easy-going building inspector, and I'm 100% sure he'd be cool with almost anything reasonable that I put up, but I want to make sure it satisfies the actual code. Thank you in advance.
1) Is this actually allowable? Table R602.10.5 has footnote e that says maximum wall height of 12' is alright, with 10' opening, which is cool, in accordance with figure 602.10.4. BUT, fig 602.10.4 shows that 10' is the maximum to the TOP of the header, and not the opening height. Is a 12' wall with 10' opening allowable? Using portal framing, I can have a wall as narrow as 24", but both of my "narrow" walls are 36", so it would seem that's fine.
2) Assuming that opening is allowed, how long must the header extend into the wall for portal framing? If my wall were only 24" wide, according the fig 602.10.4, it looks like my header would reach through the full width. But, I have a 36" wide wall, and if it were 48" I wouldn't even need portal framing. Would it be reasonable to extend my header 12" beyond the opening on each side? The code seems unclear on this.
I really appreciate any help. I've got a really easy-going building inspector, and I'm 100% sure he'd be cool with almost anything reasonable that I put up, but I want to make sure it satisfies the actual code. Thank you in advance.