Storage Loft Above Garage Door

I'm attempting to build a storage loft above my two-car garage door. It'll be 18.75ft wide with a depth of 8ft and will be 8ft off the ground, leaving a little over 4 feet to crawl on the loft floor once constructed. The current plan is to place fifteen 2x6x8 Southern yellow pine Kiln-dried lumber as joists (16 inches on center) for support with 2x6 18-gauge ZMAX Face mount joist hangers and "1-1/2-in x 0.148-in Hot-Dipped Galvanized Smooth Shank Framing Nails" (looks like it's the same metal as the joist hangers, so shouldn't have to worry about galvanic corrosion. Does that all sound pretty standard/to code? I want it to last a long time without ever having to worry about sagging, but also don't want to over engineer it so much so that it costs me a lot more than necessary, since this is really just going to be a glorified huge shelf for storage (primary culprit being a 10ft artificial Christmas tree). For the ledger board that'll run across the top of the garage door, I'm planning on cutting a 2x8x20 down to the 18.75ft needed to cover the span of the room because I've read it's better for the ledger board to be one continuous board when possible. How much weaker would it make the loft by getting two 10ft ledger boards instead though, and if it wouldn't affect the weight capacity too severely, how do I properly attach those two boards, or is that necessary? Finally, I've heard that as long as it's under 20ft, I should be okay without additional support like a post in the middle or some 2x4s or something running from the base of the loft to the ceiling above. Is that true? Obviously, I can't put a post underneath as that's where the garage door lifts. This is my first time building something this extensive from scratch, so I appreciate any help from the pros that I can get. Thanks so much in advance. submitted by /u/LoftyyAmbitions [link] [comments]

Mar 20, 2025 - 04:40

I'm attempting to build a storage loft above my two-car garage door. It'll be 18.75ft wide with a depth of 8ft and will be 8ft off the ground, leaving a little over 4 feet to crawl on the loft floor once constructed. The current plan is to place fifteen 2x6x8 Southern yellow pine Kiln-dried lumber as joists (16 inches on center) for support with 2x6 18-gauge ZMAX Face mount joist hangers and "1-1/2-in x 0.148-in Hot-Dipped Galvanized Smooth Shank Framing Nails" (looks like it's the same metal as the joist hangers, so shouldn't have to worry about galvanic corrosion.

Does that all sound pretty standard/to code? I want it to last a long time without ever having to worry about sagging, but also don't want to over engineer it so much so that it costs me a lot more than necessary, since this is really just going to be a glorified huge shelf for storage (primary culprit being a 10ft artificial Christmas tree).

For the ledger board that'll run across the top of the garage door, I'm planning on cutting a 2x8x20 down to the 18.75ft needed to cover the span of the room because I've read it's better for the ledger board to be one continuous board when possible. How much weaker would it make the loft by getting two 10ft ledger boards instead though, and if it wouldn't affect the weight capacity too severely, how do I properly attach those two boards, or is that necessary?

Finally, I've heard that as long as it's under 20ft, I should be okay without additional support like a post in the middle or some 2x4s or something running from the base of the loft to the ceiling above. Is that true? Obviously, I can't put a post underneath as that's where the garage door lifts.

This is my first time building something this extensive from scratch, so I appreciate any help from the pros that I can get. Thanks so much in advance.

submitted by /u/LoftyyAmbitions
[link] [comments]