I am remodeling my Morton building. Want 2 stories in a building with 14' sidewalls. Upstairs is just extra bedrooms and storage. I am planning a 20 x 24 living room/kitchen and need to span that area with the smallest possible joist to save height. I would love to use 2 x 6 joist But don't think I can spend that with them. Does anybody have any ideas on using a 2 x 6 joist ? Only very seldom used bedrooms above this area.
Thanks for your help.
2x6's can span about 8' (you can look up spans on the awc.org span calc) 2x12's will go about 16'. Beyond that you're into engineered I joists or similar and they will be deeper, each manufacturer has span tables for those. Then you can go to steel, but it isn't going to get you there at 6" deep. You need a post or few and a beam(s) to reduce the span.