How much weight can 2x6 ceiling joists hold?

11 years ago

My house was built in 1960. I have a very shallow hip roof and there is less than 2 feet of headroom at the highest point. I would like to put some boxes of junk up there and i was curious about how much weight the joists can hold.
Over a load bearing wall I think the joists are 14 feet long and sit in front of each other and then another piece of wood is bolted to them to connects the joists together.

Although it seems like a solidly built house should i be worried.

Here is a video of what some of the joists look like.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z01wtpvFbns&list=UUZHJJ05ZqBHRLkpCwF1-d3A

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Comments (4)

PRO
Joseph Corlett, LLC
11 years ago
What's with all that sistering? Are you sure those aren't "repaired" trusses? We need a much better video or pictures, with a tape measure included.
needinfo001
Original Author
11 years ago
Trebruchet

The roof was stick built.
There are no pre engineered trusses used..
They are not truly "sistered". That wood nalied to the joists was to connect the opposing joists.i think that was done because the joists would have been to long to be lapped across each each other.
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hippy
11 years ago
Typical roof truss construction for the time.

You will be fine.

Lay some 1/2" plywood or OSB board across the rafters and nail or better yet screw them down to distribute the weight.
User
11 years ago
The limiting issue will be deflection and potential cracking of the ceiling. Is 14 ft the span from support to support of the joists? Do they support any part of the rafters? Do they support anything other than a drywall ceiling?