Making Roof Trusses

A roof truss is a structural framework of timbers designed to bridge the space above a room and to provide support for a roof.

Making roof trusses.

Click here for our rafter calculator. The truss is a framework consisting of rafters posts and struts which supports your roof. 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. You will need to know the roof pitch and the width of the building.

In essence a roof built on trusses is much more structurally sound. Trusses are made from multiple straight members generally made from wood or metal arranged in triangles. The benefit of a truss over older structural designs like coupled rafters is that it provides longitudinal support. A truss is a type of built up structural member that can be used in place of a single girder or beam.

These will include wood a hammer a saw roof truss. Once its open use the number boxes in the first section roof width to enter the width of the roof. Again for the sake of simplicity we ll be building a truss for a gable roof. Then select a roof pitch.

Determine your shed roof pitch. A gable roof is your typical two sided roof that meets at a point in the middle. Even if you don t know how to build a truss any diyer with confidence can construct a simple roof truss for a shed. How to make roof trusses.

You may refer to a truss as the rafter but it s basically the skeleton of the roof carrying the weight of the frame and supporting the walls of the building. The second step in building a roof truss is to prepare the materials needed. 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. In a fink truss the internal joists are arranged in a w shape ensuring even weight distribution from one end to the other.

For trusses with longer spans or when they are spaced very far apart for purlins use 2 x 6 s. Trusses are very important to preventing the walls from bending or flexing more so important for buildings and homes with more than two stories. As we will see below there are several different types of designs and this will impact the angles and designs of the overall truss. While this article focuses on configurations we also have a very cool set of illustrations showcasing the different parts anatomy of roof trusses.