Open beam ceiling

[Chris Weekly]

Is something missing here?
I haven't been to the house yet. Just looking at online photos. This room appears to have no supporting beam, nor rafter ties.
How'd they do that?

[Gunnar Alquist]

Is something missing here?
I haven't been to the house yet. Just looking at online photos. This room appears to have no supporting beam, nor rafter ties.
How'd they do that?

Seems to me you will have to wait until you get there and take a look in the attic. I would suspect trusses and decorative beams. Do you know when the house was built? If '70s or later, roof trusses are likely (at least around here they are).

[Chris Weekly]

Hello Gunnar
Good to hear from you and thanks for taking a look.
Here is the photo from the front of the house - no attic.
House is vintage...1915, with new remodelIShjuzkl3xfvzx0000000000 (Small).jpg

[Matt Fellman]

Part of it looks decorative... the beams/rafters closest to the kitchen likely don't carry any real weight unless there is a flat roof over the kitchen and one hell of a strong/thin header at that doorway to the kitchen.

It looks like the front facing roof slope is a more shallow pitch and the rafters continue up through an attic that goes above the kitchen. Of course I'm largely just guessing from my recliner. I guess it would be called Saturday night quarterback as opposed to Monday morning

I love all the new technology... I look up house pictures a lot before jobs so I know what I'm walking into. I'll also check things out before quoting a price if/when I have time.

edit: looks like ductwork openings on the steep/kitchen side so more evidence of an attic above the kitchen

[Chris McIntyre]

How'd they do that?

Structural ridge, probably 2x10 rafters (from what I can see of the skylight I would say there is no attic). T&G ceiling with false beams added.

[Mike Kleisch]

I'm thinking like Matt, attic above the kitchen. Hard to tell, but it looks like the skylight is halfway up the roof, exterior photo, and not at the ridge as the interior photo shows. I'm guessing the vault ceiling close to the kitchen is decorative and you will find a ridge beam above the wall between the kitchen and living room.

Let us know what you find…

[Billy Stephens]

Supply and return vents on ceiling indicates space between interior and exterior.

[Mark Reinmiller]

Is something missing here?
I haven't been to the house yet. Just looking at online photos. This room appears to have no supporting beam, nor rafter ties.
How'd they do that?

Based on a quick look, it appears to be a shed roof coming off an original gabled roof. The ridge is probably above the partition wall. The rear slope in the photo is probably just a decorative ceiling. Note the different slopes of the two sides. Not saying it is right, just that it does not look like a gabled roof with no ridge beam.

[Dana Bostick]

I love all the new technology... I look up house pictures a lot before jobs so I know what I'm walking into. I'll also check things out before quoting a price if/when I have time.
[/QUOTE]

Of the subject of new technology...
I love it too, use it all the time for the same reason, to get an idea of what the property looks like before actually go there.

Did you know that Google maps also offers the ability to actually measure from the satellite view? You can set the view to satellite, click off the 45° angle (feature so that you're looking straight down) and then click the little icon in the lower left of the screen that turns on the measurement function. From there you can set it to either meters or feet and then click one location and drag a line to another location and click again and it will give you a fairly accurate measurement.
During my insurance inspections, they often asked how for the property was from a paved road if it was more than 150 feet. This measurement function comes in very handy to determine that. You can actually do a linked measurement of more than one segment if needed. As an example: Click point A (the paved road), click to point B (the first turn) and then move on to additional points or turns to track the actual driven distance as opposed to as the bird flies. Pretty useful feature.

[Bob Wisnewski]

I love all the new technology... I look up house pictures a lot before jobs so I know what I'm walking into. I'll also check things out before quoting a price if/when I have time.

Of the subject of new technology...
I love it too, use it all the time for the same reason, to get an idea of what the property looks like before actually go there.

Did you know that Google maps also offers the ability to actually measure from the satellite view? You can set the view to satellite, click off the 45° angle (feature so that you're looking straight down) and then click the little icon in the lower left of the screen that turns on the measurement function. From there you can set it to either meters or feet and then click one location and drag a line to another location and click again and it will give you a fairly accurate measurement.
During my insurance inspections, they often asked how for the property was from a paved road if it was more than 150 feet. This measurement function comes in very handy to determine that. You can actually do a linked measurement of more than one segment if needed. As an example: Click point A (the paved road), click to point B (the first turn) and then move on to additional points or turns to track the actual driven distance as opposed to as the bird flies. Pretty useful feature.[/QUOTE]
Dana,
Will it measure the perimeter of the dwelling as well?

[Dana Bostick]

Dana,
Will it measure the perimeter of the dwelling as well?[/QUOTE]

Yes, that is actually my primary use. Sometimes I'll forget to measure the perimeter of an out building or garage and rather than having to drive back to the site, I'll grab the measurements using Google Maps. For certain types of insurance inspections they require that I provide a footprint sketch. This useful Google feature has saved my ass a few times.