My steel failure

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So I have this building out in my backyard. A friend of ours has lived there for years but she in the US for a few months so I thought I would do some maintenance on it. The roof needed replacing about ten years ago, as did the ceiling and some other stuff. It's a good building (about 700sqf) and one day, when I retire, it will be my shed/shop.I pulled down the ceiling and found out why the roof had a dip in it - the rafters were 5" x 2" softwood over a 6 metre span.My brilliant idea to strengthen them and take out some of the bow in them was to get 65mm x 3mm flats drilled at 400mm centres and attach one to each side of each rafter. Clever, huh. It did absolutely nothing. I got it completely wrong. Epic fail.So I bit the bullet and got 18 lengths of 6" x 2" laminated beams and bolted them to the existing ones.Now I have 36 x 6 metres lengths of flat bar with holes drilled in them. Attached ImagesYeah, I carry.House keys, wallet, some change, usually a newspaper, maybe a pen.
Reply:Originally Posted by scott brunsdonSo I have this building out in my backyard. A friend of ours has lived there for years but she in the US for a few months so I thought I would do some maintenance on it. The roof needed replacing about ten years ago, as did the ceiling and some other stuff. It's a good building (about 700sqf) and one day, when I retire, it will be my shed/shop.I pulled down the ceiling and found out why the roof had a dip in it - the rafters were 5" x 2" softwood over a 6 metre span.My brilliant idea to strengthen them and take out some of the bow in them was to get 65mm x 3mm flats drilled at 400mm centres and attach one to each side of each rafter. Clever, huh. It did absolutely nothing. I got it completely wrong. Epic fail.So I bit the bullet and got 18 lengths of 6" x 2" laminated beams and bolted them to the existing ones.Now I have 36 x 6 metres lengths of flat bar with holes drilled in them.
Reply:I'm laughing WITH YOU, not AT YOU   There's no end to the stuff I do, albeit with good intentions, that goes somewhat different than expectedTrouble with wood is that it has "memory".  Bend it, and the only way to straighten it is to steam it.  I think that even if you had scabbed the rafters on both sides with good straight stuff, it would still be necessary to plane off the stuff sticking out above, and below, the good straight scabs.  Personally, I think steel is more forgiving, and easier to work with.Don't feel bad, I was supposed to fix K'kins lawn mower on Sunday.  The "new" truck is in the yard a few feet from where she left the mower when it broke.  I'm sitting there looking at the truck, wondering how I'll either be able to move the rear axle, or cut/splice the frame to shorten the whole affair (this is gonna be a real dilemma, although it started out as a dandy of an idea) when I hear a voice........"That's an awful big lawn mower"  BUSTED  So I dutifully dragged the mower back to the "shop", and did a little relationship repair"Any day above ground is a good day"http://www.farmersamm.com/
Reply:I went thru a similar ordeal, Scott. Built a patio 18' wide off our back door and set two pipe supports 16' apart to support a beam made up of 2 2x6's w/ a 1/8" x5" flatbar laminated between them. I watched it closely thru the winter to see what the snowload did. It started sagging and finally had to put a temporary support(4x4 post w/ a bottle jack on top) until I could drill another post hole and install a center support. I knew if the flatbar bent far enough it would be impossible to straighten.                                                              MikeOl' Stonebreaker  "Experience is the name everyone gives to their mistakes"Hobart G-213 portableMiller 175 migMiller thunderbolt ac/dc stick Victor O/A setupMakita chop saw
Reply:After my failure, I had a chat to a tame engineer about what I wanted to do - without letting him know about what I tried. He said the only thing to do would be to encase each rafter in a PFC (channel). The cost of that would have been three times my timber solution.I'm open to ideas on what to do with 18 x 6 metre lengths of 65mm x 3mm with holes drilled in them. Pity I didn't think to try the idea before I drilled all the holes.Yeah, I carry.House keys, wallet, some change, usually a newspaper, maybe a pen.
Reply:Flitch beams excel when there is a web of steel sandwiched between two pieces of wood. The steel is the strength (web) and the wood sides act to hold the web from deflecting and/or bulging sideways. So in your case you would have needed to add one flat bar and one wooden beam for each."The things that will destroy America are prosperity at any price, peace at any price, safety first instead of duty first, the love of soft living and the get rich quick theory of life." -Theodore Roosevelt
Reply:Take them to any welding shop. They'll give you a half decent price for the pieces(I would). I mean BZZZZT ! BZt !No more hole !Bubble gumTooth pixDuct tapeBlack glueGBMF hammerScrew gun --bad battery (see above)
Reply:What burpee said.... Those holes can be quickly fixed with a mig welder, a piece of copper backing and then an angle grinder.  Good as new. "Hey I didn't come to look and learn, I came to turn and burn.... If I can't light up, I'm gonna light out!"-JodyIdealarc 250 "Fatman"MM 252MM 211 "Little boy" Victor Torches