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I am working on a 10' x 12' building with a 6' porch (16' x 12' overall). Roof is a simple gable that will cover the porch.

The porch roof will rest on 2x beams, which are supported by posts at one end, and by the building at the other end. I'm trying to figure out the detail of how to frame the wall to support the beams.

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My plan right now is to shorten the last stud on the front wall, to act as a jack stud under the beam. Then I have a king stud next to it. Then a 3rd stud, to act as a nailing surface for drywall on the inside. (This is a full-length wall.)

The shorter side wall's 2nd top plate will be notched to fit around the porch beam. This weakens the joint between walls, so I may add a metal plate, as seen in Advanced Framing.

Front wall framing plan:

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Is this a good approach?

I've considered extending the porch beam in to the side walls, perhaps to the next stud, but that would complicate things a great deal.

EDIT: Design snow load is 25psf here. With a 1' overhang, the total load on the beam is 1500lbs. Roofing is metal, slope 4:12.

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    Have you already framed the walls? If not, you might want to consider just extending the double top plate like this. – Tester101 Jul 12 '12 at 13:00
  • If You go with Your original plan, I just say that all 3 studs (the beam's support, king and the 3rd one) need to be bolted together. This will help to avoid buckling. The resting part of a beam needs to be also attached to the structure. I bet You all know this, but I'm not quite familiar with framing. My approach is purely theoretical. – Marek Oleszczuk Jun 24 '16 at 10:57
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Jay's plan to use beam pockets in the front wall will work fine. Dbl. top plates with no additional structure supporting a roof over a SIX foot span (as per Tester101's first suggestion) is entirely inadequate. Whether a 2x beam on edge is adequate, and how deep it is, depends on what the roof snowload is, if any.

There are also hardware beam hangers available that support the end of the beam and are nailed or bolted to the supporting studs in the front wall, eliminating the need to frame pockets. Tester101's second suggestion to use a ledger to support the beam end is a viable idea, but the connection of the ledger under the beam, into the studs needs to be carefully detailed.

A metal plate tying the two walls together is an important detail. Alternately, extend the dbl. top plates over the beam, lowering the beam 3" so the plates can still lap in a conventional manner. If you go with a hardware hanger or a ledger, the beam should be strapped to the sidewall top plate to hold it to the main structure in a wind storm or possibly an earthquake.

Along wind storm lines, be sure the beam is well connected to the outer post, and the post tied into the foundation, as there can be significant uplift forces on an open porch roof.

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  • Lots of good advice. +1 and welcome to the site. – BMitch♦ Jul 12 '12 at 23:31
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One option is to build the shed, then use a 2x6 ledger board to attach doubled up 2x4s to the shed.

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For a beefier solution, you could use doubled up 2x6s to span the gap.

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You could also connect the ledger even with the top of the wall, and use double joist hangers to connect the doubled up 2x6s to the ledger.

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You can attach the ledger using 1/2"x4" lag screws, one or two per stud.

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