Newbie - first question

[meat]

Hello all.  New to the forum.  I've been reading for a few months, but just registered.

I plan on building a house in a few years...I have the land, barn, and the spot all picked out.  My job keeps me away alot, but I'll be back when I retire.  No time like the present to start planning.

My question is about the 20' wide 2-story Universal...it makes a great looking farm house BTW.  From reading I know that adding length to a plan is ok, but what would need to happen to make the 20' width grow by another sheet of plywood to 24' wide? 

If you used the engineered joists, could they handle the additional 4 feet and still make a house with no interior load bearing walls?   

Also, if you took the base plan and wanted to finish out the "third floor" what would be the best way to continue the stairs up to the top?   

Thanks all for your time.  I really enjoy the site, and come back every day to learn more.

[John Raabe]

The 2-story Universal has two ways to do the floor: full span I-joists and standard joists bearing on a central beam. A 24' width would be a challenge for full span trusses - you would probably have to go to commercial web trusses. Using the beam in the center is better. It would be able to handle the deeper joists needed for 1/2 the 24' span. You would likely have to have the beams checked for the new design since they are now loaded more heavily.

There are links here and on the PlanHelp site to span charts for joist sizing.