Hello Jea48: Yes,you understand correctly...the vaulted ceiling is the bottom of the 2"x4" roof rafters and there were 2"x4"x approx 13' or so ties (I call them cross beams) tieing the outside long walls along the eves to each other... just before I began the project I had a good friend of mine who is a GC come in and assess the structure. He declared it quite sound except that he noticed a slight bowing along the centerline of the roof ( you really had to look hard to notice it)... so what we did was take a heavy duty floor jack and a big 4"x4" x 8'ish and at the midpoint we gently raised it back up to level while a few of his workers took 3 big 2"x6"s and installed them in place of the old ones. They were nailed and then through-bolted (w/ 5/8" bolts) to really keep it all well locked in nice and tight again. I removed 4 of the original 5 which were redundant/not doing much/if anything and the roof is good and secure again. With roofers all over it after that it was completely fine and I'm sure any snow accumulation shouldn't be a problem. Obviously to maintain ceiling height I simply painted these exposed beams the same ceiling color ("Chalk white" from Ben Moore) and they look pretty great.
I'll be updating my system pics soon, and show the new room... the one there on my "system link" now is my last room(in an apt.). I appreciate your obvious insights into the "big picture" of all the fine details . Thanks again.
I'll be updating my system pics soon, and show the new room... the one there on my "system link" now is my last room(in an apt.). I appreciate your obvious insights into the "big picture" of all the fine details . Thanks again.