Stick Built Roof Trusses

Unlike stick built rafter construction that is done on site most trusses are made in a factory and delivered to the work site ready for installation.

Stick built roof trusses.

Rafter boards are fastened to the ridge board at the peak and the top plate where they join the wall. A typical home roof construction is composed of multiple trusses spaced out evenly over a span extending from one end of the house to the opposite end. Then dimensional lumber called rafters are cut to fit one piece at a time and shoved up to a framer on the roof that s balancing on scaffolding who installs the rafters. Gable and hip roofs may be built primarily of trusses.

Once trusses are built they are very hard to modify if something needs to be changed. Stick framing creates a triangle between the rafters and ceiling joists. Fink trusses were originally invented for the purpose of beefing up bridges but many contractors now use them to increase the strength of interior structures. In finished space insulation is placed between the rafter boards and drywall or other material is fastened to the face.

The very first step for building roof trusses is to prepare a design layout that can be sketched by a professional architect or can also be done by using a software that is specifically meant to design a roof truss. They also do not allow for any extra storage space. In a fink truss the internal joists are arranged in a w shape ensuring even weight distribution from one end to the other. Other roof shapes particularly those with dormers or on houses with cathedral ceilings attic rooms or attic storage areas are stick built.

With premanufactured trusses or with rafters and ceiling joists commonly called stick framing. Which do you have. The second step in building a roof truss is to prepare the materials needed. While truss roofs are the most popular construction style today by some estimates truss roofs outnumber stick frame roofs two to one there are regions of the country where builders.

Although dimensional lumber not sticks are used to build the roof each board must be measured cut and. It starts with setting ridge and valley beams above the house walls. Stick framing takes place on site while trusses come prefabricated and ready to set. Because they take more materials to create building truss roofs can be more expensive than stick framed structures.

A collar beam adds strength to the triangle at the middle. Stick framing is building the roof on the construction site one piece or board at a time. Once the trusses have been placed and the roof installed you cannot change or remove them making renovations more difficult. There are two common ways of framing the roof of a house.

Stick framing a roof takes a lot of time. Sometimes if attic areas have a t shaped layout it can be difficult to build with trusses if not impossible where the t comes together.