Market Education

Determining Necessary Truss Height

Question: 

How high would a truss have to be to span 33 feet 9 inches?

Responsibilities With Lumberyards

Question: 

When you’re selling trusses through a lumberyard and the contractor calls to say that the “trusses don't fit correctly,” who has the ultimate responsibility for the trusses? I argue that the lumberyard is responsible since we have provided them with all the information on how the job was designed, even though they may or may not have passed this information on to the contractor.

Building A Garage With A Bedroom And Bathroom

Question: 

We are building a garage with a bedroom and bathroom and trying to find out what type of floor joists and roof trusses to use. The garage will be a 26 ft. by 32 ft. with a 26 ft. by 32 ft. room upstairs. But we don't want to have posts in the middle of the garage to help support the weight of the second floor.

Truss Storage Responsibilities

Question: 

We have a customer that bought trusses in June. The trusses were shipped [ and one month later are] being set. The chords have weathered and bowed. What is the industry standard for dealing with this problem? What is our liability in this situation? We were not aware of any delays on the customer’s part and shipped as requested. Note: These trusses are 62 ft. scissor trusses.

Purlin Design

Question: 

Do you have information on purlin grades and species to meet 50 psf top chord live load using 2x4s on edge 24 in. O.C. over trusses at 6 ft. O.C.?

Duct Chase Sizes

Question: 

Are there charts illustrating allowable HVAC duct sizes that can fit between truss chords for various truss depths?

Locating Local Truss Manufacturers

Question: 

I am building a home and want to use floor trusses. How can I find a local manufacturer?

Framing Gable End Overhangs

Question: 

What is the recommended way to frame gable end overhangs?

Allowable Deflection In Floor Trusses

Question: 

Is there a chart available on the allowable amount of deflection on floor trusses?

Attic Ventilation

Question: 

I need to put a new roof on my single-family dwelling. The house originally had gable and soffit/eave vents. The roofing contractor suggested that we install a ridge vent when new roof is installed. Should the existing gable vents be blocked off or does it not matter? I have read some debates about whether or not the combination of gable and ridge vents substantially reduces the effect of the soffit vents by having the intake now at the gable vents and exhaust at the ridge. Would this type of ventilation affect the truss warranty?