Garage ceiling & door header

[Al Barb]

Garage ceiling joists meet in middle of garage but are "floating" - are not supported by wall as they are in the rest of the house. Attached garage is 11' wide x 21' long.
Is this acceptable because it's not part of the living area?
If not, how should I correct this? Run support beam underneath ceiling joist across 11' width of garage? (2x6's? 2x8's?)
Someone suggested laying a 2x6' on top of side walls and supporting the garage ceiling by "suspending" the joists from this 2x6 instead of supporting the joists from underneath. 2x6(s) would run above and across joists like the 1x6 is in the photo, but in vertical position.

Any idea what's the shiny stuff on the garage door header? Is this some kind of tree sap or could it be some type of mold?

Thanks,
Al

[James A. King]

Those joists are not supporting any vertical load, so I see no reason for consern. Their purpose is to prevent the weight of the roof, and any snow load on it, from pushing the walls out. Accordingly, these joists are in tension. So long as they are adequately fastened together in the middle, and fastened adequately to the rafters at their ends, they can do that job. I can't see how they are fastrened, but they certainly have adequate overlap to easily allow proper fastening. If you see them separating anywhere, you could add a couple of through bolts to pull them back together. I can't see what the shiny material is, but it is common for pine to leach sap that is shiny, and can be either hard or sticky.

Jim King

[Al Barb]

Thanks for your reply.
But I'm concerned about the event that someone would have to crawl in the attic above the garage or decide to store something in the attic.
Wouldn't there be some vertical "load" in that case?
Thanks,
Al

[Scott A. Figert]

Does'nt look like enough room to crawl above there to begin with and just note "DO NOT store items in attic as the joist were not designed to do so". They look like home built truss style that the builder didn't know how to design a truss to begin with.

[Mark A. Timpani]

how bout this

[Michael Larson]

Originally Posted by mtimpani

how bout this

Oh that's just lovely.

Whatever were they thinking????

[David P. Valley]

Originally Posted by mtimpani

how bout this

What a joke!!!

[InspectorRiggs]

Looks like those are built-in-place trusses. They are not really made correctly, but notice how there is no ridge board. Bottom joist is not meant to carry any floor load, and the overlap of the bottom chord lets you splice it together with a fair amount of nails. I have similar in my garage, its useful for storing bulky (but very light!) items up there.