A great deal depends on the pitch of the roof.
Attic support beams.
A timber roof truss is a structural framework of timbers designed to bridge the space above a room and to provide support for a roof trusses usually occur at regular intervals linked by longitudinal timbers such as purlins the space between each truss is known as a bay.
This is where a high pitched roof is necessary.
The same is true for beams like structural ridge beams and center girders.
Once again a 2 by 4 inch piece of lumber is placed between the trusses and parallel to the ceiling joists.
If the attic joists are not adequate one way to strengthen the floor for live loads is to sister the old joists.
The other is just used to support the trusses.
Some of these can support the roof and prevent ridge sagging and wall spreading.
In the case of 2x6 joists you can pair them up with additional 2x6 joists by nailing them together side by side.
If your attic joists won t bear the weight necessary to finish out a living space but the engineer cleared them to support floor decking for light storage you can install inch plywood or.
Too often builders gang together 2 inch dimension lumber to support roof and floor loads without considering other options.
Collar ties rafter ties tension beams structural ridge beams.
You can t beat sawn lumber for most small window headers but as spans and loads increase stronger materials are a better choice.
Rafters have a tendency to flatten under gravity thrusting outwards on the walls.