In our last exciting episode we learned that some errant wind gust had tried to take the powershed’s roof off. I found that unacceptable, but had to think a bit as to how I was going to crank the frame back together.
A combination of c-clamp and hammer did the job. I’ll use hurricane straps on the rafters, but needed something more like plates on the header across the front of the building. I didn’t have anything like that. But thanks to all those cut-up pallets I did have billets of rock-hard cured hardwood.
So I cranked the header down as well as I could with the c-clamp, and then ran three of those pre-drilled billets across the inside. As a final step I drilled up from the bottom and screwed in eight 3″ deck screws. That should keep the roof where it belongs.
Post-mortem of the original job indicates that I deserved to lose the roof. If I’d paid to have that frame put up, I’d want to go back in time and fire the contractor. But it’s stronger now.
What you have done will probably be a lifetime cure. Still hurricane straps top and bottom on your joists positively ties the roof to the ground (assuming that your plate is properly tied to a foundation).
It could have been worse. Nothing like looking out a window and watching a large hunk of roof blow by and have that hollow feeling in your gut because you know there isn’t a damn thing that you can do about it. The “Redneck roof repair may look silly but as I’ve said about other things if it looks silly and it works it ain’t silly.
Angle iron and bolts. That gap between wall stud and header portends weakness of the reinforcement supposedly provided by exterior sheathing. Even 1/4 inch bolts with nuts (Grade 5) are stronger than any 6 nails or deck screws; through-bolt the headers to angle iron, bolt angle iron to the studs and your grandchildren’s grandchildren won’t have to worry about it.