How Roof Trusses Work

The most common truss a 2 4 fink truss is designed to support several different loads.

How roof trusses work.

Continue reading below our video of the day. A flat roof truss is also known simply as a flat truss and is not completely flat but rather slightly sloped in order to allow water to run off of the roof. The geographical location of your proposed home plays a critical part in the truss design. A roof truss is an engineered building component designed to span longer distances than dimensional lumber without relying on interior partition walls for support.

The trusses are tied to the walls with small metal plates. Once the trusses are up the roof is covered in plywood or osb which gives the roof tremendous rigidity. Install the roof trusses. In order to make this correctly you will have to work out exactly what you need to do with your truss in order to create a flat roof.

Toe nail them into the top plate to secure them and then make sure they are braced laterally using blocking or long purlins. A roof truss is typically a triangular structure that is designed to distribute the weight of the roof. Once the trusses are constructed lift them into place and set them onto the top plates of the exterior walls just as you would a beam or joist. All trusses in a roof structure are designed for the worst possible combination of dead live and wind loads.

The individual truss members are designed to restrain the corresponding forces i e tension or compression or a combination of bending with either the tension or compression force. The two parts of a roof truss and the members straight lengths of wood and the intersections that disperse the weight evenly down the length of each member. Trusses like all structures are devices for transferring loads from where you don t want them to where you do. They are on 24 inch centers.

These trusses went up in about four hours.