Roof Truss Strength

The upper angled parts correspond to the common rafters used in stick framing roofs.

Roof truss strength. I d go to your local truss manufacturer and give him all the info i listed above and have him run it through his truss calculator. It ll take him about 5 seconds and you ll know for sure. Excellent strength and span. Long ago engineers learned they could add greatly to the strength of a roof by inserting compression members within the frames.

According to the american wood council the maximum span for rafters is about 30 feet and that s with a relatively low load of 20lbs per square foot. The same thing is true for the bridge of the truss. Trusses are engineered to span larger distances than conventionally framed roofs. Roof truss span tables alpine engineered products 15 top chord 2x4 2x6 2x6 2x4 2x6 2x6 2x4 2x6 2x6 2x4 2x6 2x6 bottom chord 2x4 2x4 2x6 2x4 2x4 2x6 2x4 2x4 2x6 2x4 2x4 2x6 2 12 24 24 33 27 27 37 31 31 43 33 33 46 2 5 12 29 29 39 33 33 45 37 38 52 39 40 55 3 12 34 34 46 37 39 53 40 44 60 43 46 64 3 5 12 39 39 53 41 44 61 44 50 65 47 52 70.

He adds that connector plate manufacturers have done a lot of research in how the pattern is laid out to maximize the strength of the plate connection using various species of wood. A miter saw or motorized chop saw will come in real handy here. These steel joints are needed to support the overall truss. The more complex the truss framework is the greater quantity of these joints will be required.

Such trusses are not hard to make. These pieces are known as upper cords and there are two of them in each truss. Trusses are made up of four main parts. Roof trusses support a roof s weight by transferring the weight load downward and outward to the building s bearing walls.

A roof truss is a triangular wood structure that is engineered to hold up much of the weight of the rest of the roof. The only difficult part is cutting precise angles on the ends of the members so they will fit together tightly. The bottom horizontal of the triangular truss form which corresponds to the joists in stick framed roofs is known as the lower cord. They do this by means of top chords which are sloping members that extend from the peak of the roof to the top of the exterior walls at the eaves.

The straight lengths of wood known as members that roof trusses built with are connected with intersections that distribute the weight evenly down the length of each member. Truss spans can reach 60 feet. Since they transmit weight from the roof to the exterior walls none of the interior walls needs to be load bearing. A roof truss simply put is a wooden frame that supports the roof of a built structure like a shed.