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My 34 x 44 build with homemade steel trusses.

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tlmartin84

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Apr 23, 2012
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West Virginia
Little behind on getting pics up, but here is what has went on this year:

Groundbreaking:
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Didn't like how low it set, so we raised the pad up:
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Formed up the stub walls and poured the floor, concrete work isn't perfect but it is ok considering I did it all and haven't spent any money for someone else:
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I am REALLY PROUD of how well these did. Them turning out as good as they did was all in getting the design right, measuring twice and cutting once.

Cut all of the tubing with the angle grinder, each piece was designed in CAD.
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Had all of these cut from CAD files on the plasma table:
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Cut these with the angle grinder from 2x6 tube and drilled them:
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End result after a full day of welding, everything welded up real nice with my new Hobart 210, only had an occasional bubble or two from wind blowing my shielding gas.

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Next step is painting the trusses and starting to stand some walls. Materials arriving Friday!
 
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tlmartin84

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Yeah, I have a front section 30x34, and a back section 14x34. Three walls carry the purlins and then the two trusses are for the 30x34.

I wanted a 4:12 pitch on one side and a 3:12 on the other. All the steel trusses I have researched wouldn't carry the snow loads, so I designed my own.
 
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tlmartin84

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My material/plasma burn bill was around $800.00. I will have 2-1/2 days of time invested in them by the time I get them painted.
 
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haptiq

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Feb 13, 2014
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VA/NC
This kind of fab work gets me way too excited, you should just build the whole shop like that lol
 
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1dumbquestion

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Jun 18, 2012
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tlmartin84 said:
Yeah, I have a front section 30x34, and a back section 14x34. Three walls carry the purlins and then the two trusses are for the 30x34.

I wanted a 4:12 pitch on one side and a 3:12 on the other. All the steel trusses I have researched wouldn't carry the snow loads, so I designed my own.
Click to expand...

Did you run calcs on those to meet your load requirements or just build them bad-*** like that so you could park a car on top? I'm looking at building some 30' span trusses for my upcoming shop but I was going to use 1-1/2 x 1-1/2 x3/16 angle like the ones offered online but haven't been able to find load tables on them. Thanks, 1
 
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BobRae

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I'm curious about the footings under the walls and the depth and type of fill under the poured concrete floor.
 
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theoldwizard1

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BobRae said:
I'm curious about the footings under the walls and the depth and type of fill under the poured concrete floor.
Click to expand...

Obviously I can not answer those questions, but that is some of the nicest form and foundation wall work I have seen. Even went the exra mile and put insulation on the outside of the foundation wall. (Where I live, it would have to be at least 2")

Anybody guess what the wall thickness of the tubing and plates. 0.090-0.120 ?
 
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1dumbquestion

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theoldwizard1 said:
Obviously I can not answer those questions, but that is some of the nicest form and foundation wall work I have seen. Even went the exra mile and put insulation on the outside of the foundation wall. (Where I live, it would have to be at least 2")

Anybody guess what the wall thickness of the tubing and plates. 0.090-0.120 ?
Click to expand...

Looks to be .120 tube and 3/16 connecting plate.
 
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CNGsaves

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Sep 26, 2012
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Time to MODIFY those babies and add Overhead Crane that runs full length of the ceiling !!! :D

If that requires a 3rd truss in middle of garage . . . oh well. I'd like to see THAT bad-*** setup with a swivel in middle of overhead crane so it could go side-to-side as well !! :bounce:
 
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tlmartin84

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CNGsaves said:
Time to MODIFY those babies and add Overhead Crane that runs full length of the ceiling !!! :D

If that requires a 3rd truss in middle of garage . . . oh well. I'd like to see THAT bad-*** setup with a swivel in middle of overhead crane so it could go side-to-side as well !! :bounce:
Click to expand...

That's kind of the plan, 3 trollies, three beams, and I can cover a 10 by 10 area for unloading, pulling engines etc.

The are strong enough to carry a ton with full snow/wind loads.

1/8" x 2" x 2" 46(ish)KSI steel Tube.

36KSI 1/8" steel plate.
 
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tlmartin84

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BobRae said:
I'm curious about the footings under the walls and the depth and type of fill under the poured concrete floor.
Click to expand...

As far as foundations go, It is a L shape Beam Foundation, 1' wide at bottom, 6' wide wall, 2' tall.

3/4" Insulation.

About 1' foot of fill compacted in 4/6" lifts. Then Capped with 57's and plastic. Wish I had taken pictures of the rebar in the slab. 1/2" 50ksi on 24" Centers.

I actually had the forms pop loose during the pour, walls got a little wobbly (you can see the cold joint in the corner where I had to stop and redo my forms, Soaked it with epoxy, patched and rubbed it out, no concerns). The OSB was a bad choice, but I didn't want to fork over the extra dough for a one time use plywood. Other thing that got me is they were setting on rock, I couldn't get my stakes very deep!

Its all over now! Got the roof on, and house wrapped for winter. I will post pics soon.

Been working so much on it I haven't had time to log on for awhile.
 
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Bsj04

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May 28, 2012
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Aledo, TX
When I read "homemade" in the title I was a little worried, but after looking at your pictures very nice work sir! Keep us updated, I'm interested to see this come together.
 
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Pluribus

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Skagit County, WA
Great to see it all together after just seeing the work-of-art trusses. I like the layout and will look forward to seeing more progress.
 
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CNGsaves

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Fabulous shop. LOVE the result!!! :thumbup:

Curious if the trusses sit on top plate ?? Or just bolted to those double studs??

Could you have really "overbuilt" with steel uprights instead ?? More trusses ?? Tie the trusses together with steel ridgebeam ??

With only wood uprights, you still thinking of any crane system ??
 
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tlmartin84

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CNGsaves said:
Fabulous shop. LOVE the result!!! :thumbup:

Curious if the trusses sit on top plate ?? Or just bolted to those double studs??

They sit over the top plate, they are bolted through the sides of the studs, and lagged through the top plates.

Could you have really "overbuilt" with steel uprights instead ?? More trusses ?? Tie the trusses together with steel ridgebeam ??

Of course, but this was the less costly route and the above mentioned items are not needed

With only wood uprights, you still thinking of any crane system ??
Click to expand...

With a gantry system, the trusses will handle 2 tons with no snow, and around a half ton if the roof is covered in a couple feet of snow. The wood posts would hand quite a deal more than either of the above situations.

Most people over build wooden posts, posts that are braced will carry extremely large amounts of vertical load.
 
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LutzTD

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wow very nice, those trusses are pretty awesome. How did your material cost compare with manufactured trusses? I wanted to do something similar for my second floor joists, but here they require all the calcs and a PE signoff. Did you have to submit your calcs for a permit or are you rural with no permit?
 
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tlmartin84

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West Virginia
I broke even with manufactured steel trusses, but.............

I think they look cheap, and the ones I've seen looks like a 3rd grader welded them.

They could not get the width I wanted with the height I wanted.

I am a PE so that's why I was willing to take this on. I did the calcs, and if pushed I will stamp and give them to the inspector.

(Unless he sees this thread, I am guessing he will just think the were manufactured somewhere). LOL
 
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LutzTD

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tlmartin84 said:
I broke even with manufactured steel trusses, but.............

I think they look cheap, and the ones I've seen looks like a 3rd grader welded them.

They could not get the width I wanted with the height I wanted.

I am a PE so that's why I was willing to take this on. I did the calcs, and if pushed I will stamp and give them to the inspector.

(Unless he sees this thread, I am guessing he will just think the were manufactured somewhere). LOL
Click to expand...

agreed, your trusses are uber nice
 
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DekeT

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mountainman72 said:
This is the attitude that gets it done, and the attitude that so many lack. Good for you. I'm looking forward to seeing the building progress.

Brett
Click to expand...

An attitude possible because of a substantial amount of technical expertise. Otherwise not recommended.
 
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tlmartin84

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West Virginia
Some Updated Photos:

Finished Panel:

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French Doors to Paint/Wash Bay Installed (Picked these up for $50.00, BOOM):

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Vinyl Insulation Up (Major PITA):

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Exterior Slab (For the messy jobs), turned out WAY better than my attempt at the floor slab:

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Loft Storage (Notice the paint booth vents in the back:

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Clean Storage Room:

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Panorama of shop space (Picture Quality *****, first attempt at this phone feature):

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