hi SF,
A strongback is the board in Daox's picture going perpendicular to the ceiling joists and is just above the ceiling joists. That is what my inspector calls them. Maybe there is another term for them. They are called that because they support things from above just like a strong back. The main reason for having them is to avoid intruding into the living space when supporting structure. They are also used as way of economizing on lumber. You can go with 2x4 ceiling joists spanning a 20' room if you put in two big strong backs perpendicular to the ceiling joists so that the open space any ceiling joist is carrying is only 6 2/3 ft.
Last edited by Exeric; 11-11-12 at 03:00 PM..
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