Spent 4 hours yesterday fighting a sagging header on a garage door frame in Portland.

Turns out the original builder used 2x6s where they shoulda been 2x10s, and I didn't catch it until the third time I checked the level - has anyone else run into old houses where the framing just makes zero sense?

2 comments

2 Comments

james_ross10m ago

@derekgibson's fix is good advice - used to think old builders were sloppy but now I see they just used what they had.

derekgibson1h ago

oh man, I feel your pain. I had almost the exact same thing on a 1920s craftsman in Seattle. Framed with a 2x6 for a double garage door header, sagging bad after 30 years. I ended up having to jack it up with a bottle jack and some 4x4 posts, then sister a proper 2x10 on each side with structural screws. The original builder probably just grabbed whatever was laying around, lol. Check if the top plate is solid, too, because if that's wobbly you're chasing the sag forever.