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I am getting ready to finish some of the space above the garage and have some questions. I am located in Pittsburgh, PA.

The garage is sloped on both sides down to the floor. I was going to utilize the space to about 4ft(knee wall) of height on both sides. This gives about 12ft of width for the floor space.

I was going to use roughly 14ft of the 20ft for the length of the room. I am going to put an exterior door at the end of the 14ft to allow access to the rest of the space for storage. I am going to use a small heat pump for heating/cooling the space.

It is built with 2x8s for the roof and floor. There are steel I-beams about every 90" apart under the 2x8s.

Question: Can I leave the 2x8's or do I need to put 2x10s down? Either way, it has regular plywood and will be replacing it with 3/4" tongue and groove.

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    Do the I-beams run perpendicular or parallel to the 2x8s? Also, do the 2x8s run in the 14' dimension or the 20' dimension? Also, soffit venting is typically for cool air intake - what other venting is there? Ridge vents? Gable vents? Roof deck vents? – Comintern Dec 25 '15 at 20:32
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    Can you split this into two questions please, one for the structural part (with the 2x8s) and the other for the insulation and venting part? – ThreePhaseEel Dec 25 '15 at 22:54
  • If you already have 2x8 bottom chords on your trusses they were apparently designed for occupancy or storage load. Don't have the spec sheets? – isherwood Dec 26 '15 at 0:44
  • Do the I-beams run perpendicular or parallel to the 2x8s? Also, do the 2x8s run in the 14' dimension or the 20' dimension? Also, soffit venting is typically for cool air intake - what other venting is there? Ridge vents? Gable vents? Roof deck vents? - The Ibeams run in the 14ft direction which is perpendicular to the 2x8's. There are 3 of them spaced out over the length of the garage. I am not familiar with the other vents that you asked about. I will google and follow up. Sorry for the double post. I hit enter and it posted it! – Jason Dec 26 '15 at 17:32
  • Isherwood - Are you asking for specs of the 2x8s? They look just like whitewood 2x8's. Are 2x8 sufficient for support and flooring? The 2x8 span from iBeam to iBeam. – Jason Dec 26 '15 at 17:33

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