Engineered lumber span chart

[Argee]

I think the formula your looking for here is the Pythagorean Theorem which states: the square of the length of the hypotenuse of a right triangle equals the sum of the squares of the lengths of the other two sides. As has been simply stated A squared + B squared = C squared

Why not go with a scissor truss (for a vaulted look) or an attic truss (if storage is what your after)?

 

[TWINKLE_TOES]

Chris,
Probably true, but how many really get to drive the train??/w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif
Al

 

[Anonymous Poster]

Go to this web site:
http://www.public.iastate.edu/~mwps_dis/mwps_web/ma_plans.html
On the left side click trusses, it give all the details you are looking for, clear spans to 60 feet.

 

[ejb]

Thanks for the link...trusses would do the span, but I am interested in putting the space to use so they are out. A good (and probably cheaper) solution if I didn't need to use the space...thanks.

 

[crb478]

You can get a room truss that has the walls built in. They are not cheap, but go up quickly so labor is usually less. This only counts if you are hiring it out. They are also stronger. and usually take up no more room than a framed in knee wall would. Think of it like a triangle with a rectancle inside of it. The bottom cord is used as your floor joist and the top as rafters. I highly recommend them, and the joist company engineers the loads and gives a warrantee with them as long as they are installed correctly
Check the prices with different companies, sometimes the prices vary greatly. Some times you can get lucky and they are the cheapest alternative to use.

 

[Argee]

What your describing is an attic truss. They usually come with a 2 x 8 or 2 x 10 bottom cord. I've installed them on garages for people. They tell the local inspector the area is for storage. As soon as they get the final, walls go up and carpeting goes down. Go figure, who'd want to use a carpeted area for storage.

 

[crb478]

Around here they refer to them as room trusses and they are intended to be habitable rooms. The bottom cord will vary in size up to around a 2x12 depending on how the live loads engineer. They are used about 50% of the time and usually spaced on 16 or 24 inch centers. Once they go up the room is framed in as well as the rafters put in place. Attic trusses many times do not have the necessary head room or live load strength to be considered habitable.

 

[Argee]

Must be a regional definition. The no headroom ones we refer to as storage trusses. We're talking the same animal, but with a different name.

 

[crb478]

yep, ours have 8 foot headroom and up. some have tray ceilings built in. No wonder your inspectors look hard at the ones you see.