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Header for patio door on wall with height limitation

From: ichi_baku@yahoo.com
Category: Carpentry and Framing
Remote Name: 208.187.47.226
Date: 18 Nov 2002
Time: 04:53 PM

Comments

We are remodeling an attached garage to make it into a living space. We want to put a sliding glass door on the back wall to give access to the backyard. Our problem is the short height of that wall. From the slab to the underside of the double top plate of the wall is only 7 feet. We will be installing a floor on top of the slab, which will bring the height up about 4 inches. This decreases the height dimension to 6 ft 8 in. Which would be okay since most patio doors require a rough opening that is 6 ft 8 in tall. Except we still need a header over the door! at the absolute minimum (using two 2x4s nailed together and attached vertically) this would decrease the height of the opening to 6 ft 4 in--shorter than the rough opening height needed. We don't want to go with a shorter custom-made door since I am 6 ft 2 in tall. My idea is to attach the header not below the the double top plate, but instead on the inside edge of it (bolting the two solidly together), so that the bottom of the header and the bottom of the top plate are even. This would preserve the 6 ft 8 in height of the opening. We could then support this header at the sides with 4x4 posts, effectively making a 3-sided box that the door would sit in. it would be recessed in slightly from the rest of the wall. Is this solution possible? Or alternatively is there any other solution that does not require raising all or part of the roof? (The only other idea we've thought of is doing a short, wide shed dormer over where the door will be, but also are unsure how this would work structurally...) Other info: The garage has a peaked roof, and the wall in question is on a non-peaked side, ie the rafters come down to it and rest on the top plate. There is no second story above the garage, and it is very light construction, so there is VERY little weight on the wall in question. Thanks in advance for any advice or pointers!

 

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