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Helping You Make Your Home Your Castle |
Furniture & Furnishing & Decorations
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Roof Trusses
Introduction: Roof trusses have taken the place of stick roof construction in most modern homes today. In fact nearly four out of five new homes built uses roof trusses to frame the roof. Roof trusses replace all the rafters, ceiling joists, ridge board, and collar ties used in conventional framing.
The use of trusses enables the contractor and DIY
home builders to construct homes that have more
complex roof and ceiling designs quicker, cheaper,
and easier than conventional stick construction.
Using roof trusses requires less skill and saves a
lot of the labor cost in construction. These cost
savings reduce the price of new home construction.
In addition, using prefabricated trusses in roof
construction is much better than conventional roof
framing and they are structurally stronger using
smaller size material.
There are many advantages of using prefabricated
roof trusses.
·
Trusses can span longer distances and eliminate the
need for inside load bearing walls.
·
Roof truss cost are less expensive than stick roof
framing because they are made of shorter lengths of
2x4, 6, or 8 stocks as opposed to the larger
framing members required of conventional rafter and
ceiling framing.
·
Trusses are
engineered and designed to meet any roof load and
building code requirements.
·
A roof built with trusses can be erected in one
day, reducing the amount of time the inside of the
new home is exposed to outside weather conditions.
·
Less experienced carpenters and DIY home builders
can easily erect trusses, which reduce labor costs
and the overall time to construct a building. The common roof truss can be recognized by their triangular shape and makes up the bulk of any new home truss package. Common truss design consists of seven main parts;
1.
Top chord where the roof sheathing is
2.
Bottom chord (ceiling joist) where the drywall or
finished ceiling is attached.
3.
Bearing point, where the truss is designed to sit
on the outside bearing walls.
4.
Web supports to hold the top chord in position, at
intermediary points from the peak to the bearing
point.
5.
King post to support the peak or top of the common
trust.
6.
Metal gussets are used to supports web intersection
and where the king post intersect the top and
bottom chord as well as at the bearing point.
7.
Tails on the truss to form the eave or overhang and
provides a way to attach soffit and fascia.
There are several different roof truss types used
in home construction. A few of the most common are
listed below.
·
Raised heel trusses that are taller at the bearing
point and allow for additional insulation at the
outside edge of the building.
·
Scissor trusses used to form a cathedral ceiling.
·
Hip trusses are used to frame a hip roof and
available in three basic types, terminal hip truss
system, hip master truss system, and step down hip
truss system.
·
Girder trusses are used to eliminate load bearing
walls and are placed where two roof lines
intersect.
·
Mono trusses are only half of a common truss and
usually placed at a ninety degree angle to the
girder truss.
·
For attic rooms trusses are made with a bottom
chord that is used as the floor joist and the
support webs are designed to frame the walls of the
room.
·
Bowstring trusses are used to form rounded or
barrel roofs. I think the roof trusses are the greatest technology advancement in modern construction since the nail gun. They save a lot of time and money in the construction of homes, sheds, barns, and garages. For your next DIY home construction project that requires a roof, I recommend that you use roof trusses and save yourself a lot of aggravation, time and money. Related articles:
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A Great DIY Guide 
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