Here’s a quick rundown of how we did the final bracing at the top of the arched header, at the big window wall. If you are new to the blog, this is the third in a series on the framing of our house; you can read part 1 on interior framing here and part 2 on the big window wall framing, here.
Quonset End Wall Attachment
In a nutshell, all we did was cut trapezoid-shaped blocks, bolt them up to the arches, and use them to attach bracing 2×6’s that, in turn, got bolted to the big header using steel angle brackets.
Although we were using this method to secure the top of the window wall header, you could basically use this method to attach any end wall to a Quonset hut. I’ll talk a little more about that at the end of the post.
In the images above and below, notice the edge of the trapezoid block. It rests a little “above” the crease in the Quonset hut arch panel. We cut the blocks a little short, accidentally. Thus we added the two smaller blocks in the middle of the assembly, allowing the 2×6 brace to run clear of the metal panel.
If the fit were a little better we wouldn’t have needed those intermediate blocks.
Before we bolted the angles on, the whole wall was very solid, but did have the slightest “bounce” if you pounded it hard with your fist.
After we bolted the steel angle brackets on, it was SOLID!!!
You might be able to use a method similar to this to attach a more conventional end wall to a Quonset. NOTE HOWEVER that no two buildings or sites are exactly alike and your building needs to be engineered for your particular site conditions. I am merely sharing how we did our building for informational purposes; your mileage may vary. As with anything, do your own due diligence.
I hope you found this useful! If you did, let me know in the comments. I love hearing from readers. If you have questions, let me know those in the comments too, and I’ll respond as soon as I can.
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