Tables providing size selections for various beam spans and loading combinations for southern pine dimension lumber and southern pine glued laminated timber are available for the following applications.
Garage door header span.
To our knowledge no additional testing has been done to justify continuous headers over multiple garage door openings.
Most door frames that are 4 feet wide or less require a 2 by 6 header.
Window door garage door headers supporting roof loads only.
Notches on the outer thirds must not exceed 1 6 of the width of the board.
Portal frame details within the irc specify simple span headers with a maximum finished opening width of 18.
Measure the width of your door frame.
Window door garage door headers supporting roof wall floor loads.
These details are based on testing done by the engineered wood association that included only simple span headers.
Between 4 and 5 feet the header should be built 2 inches wide and 8 inches long while a larger opening needs a header that is 2 by 12.