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.

Even if you don t know how to build a truss any diyer with confidence can construct a simple roof truss for a shed. These will include wood a hammer a saw roof truss. The benefit of a truss over older structural designs like coupled rafters is that it provides longitudinal support. Shop our wide selection of stock and custom roof trusses to complete your building project available in a variety of styles and sizes.

The second step in building a roof truss is to prepare the materials needed. Determine your shed roof pitch. Again for the sake of simplicity we ll be building a truss for a gable roof. Trusses are made from multiple straight members generally made from wood or metal arranged in triangles.

In a fink truss the internal joists are arranged in a w shape ensuring even weight distribution from one end to the other. Build a fink truss to bolster a floor roof or deck. A truss is a type of built up structural member that can be used in place of a single girder or beam. 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.

As we will see below there are several different types of designs and this will impact the angles and designs of the overall truss. Then select a roof pitch. You will need to know the roof pitch and the width of the building. Just as there are many types of roofs with many roof parts there are many different types of roof trusses this extensive article explains through a series of custom truss diagrams the different truss configurations you can use for various roofs.

A gable roof is your typical two sided roof that meets at a point in the middle. Once its open use the number boxes in the first section roof width to enter the width of the 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. While this article focuses on configurations we also have a very cool set of illustrations showcasing the different parts anatomy of roof trusses.

Click here for our rafter calculator. 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. For trusses with longer spans or when they are spaced very far apart for purlins use 2 x 6 s. The truss is a framework consisting of rafters posts and struts which supports your roof.