tips for installing trusses?

[1BADLS1tuner]

Hey guys i was curious to see if you guys had any suggestions for someone who has never installed trusses befor...

My garage is 32x48x12...the truesses will span the 32' legth and have a 2ft overhang, the end trusses are dropped, 24" spacing.

I got the trusses in yesterday and will be installing them today/tomorrow... just not very motivated today since its 21* and there is snow on the ground.

I will be using a bobcat with a homemade pipe boom on the end of it to pick up the truesses.

I have the brackets that attach to the sill plate.. do these go on befor or after the truss goes up? I assume they go on first to help line up and hold the truss in place.

I also have a bunch of H-clips for the osb sheathing... how many clips do i use on each side???


Thanks guys!

 

[brownbagg]

tip: if they fall over before secured, they will kill you. like the donimno effect, secure each truss at the side and top before installing the next one

 

[tfi racing]

Hire an experienced,out of work framer for the day,you'll have the trusses up by noon and the roof sheated by nightfall...

 

[Toolfool]

I agree, hire experienced help. The fact that you don't know when or how to install hurricane ties makes me worry about your safety. And mishandling a truss can lead to compromising it's integrity.

 

[stingry]

I have the brackets that attach to the sill plate.. do these go on befor or after the truss goes up? I assume they go on first to help line up and hold the truss in place.

I also have a bunch of H-clips for the osb sheathing... how many clips do i use on each side???


Thanks guys!

As said above brace as you go (very important!!!) Most truss packages come with directions. If you are not familiar with truss bracing, educate yourself before you begin.

I'm guessing that the brackets that you refer to are hurricane clips. They go on after you attach the trusses. The trusses are toe-nailed into the double top plate. The clips are attached later. They are to prevent the roof from lifting during high winds.

Personally I don't like the H clips because the use of them indicates that you are using sheathing that is too thin and you are compensating by using the H clips. I used 5/8 OSB on my roof (also 24" centers) and there was no need for the clips. The clips are generally used on 1/2" sheathing which is too light in my opinion. Spend the extra $ and use 5/8 or 3/4.

Cheers
Steve

 

[Hank McMauser]

do your layout on the top sill plate,hurricane ties will install after they are in place. sheet your gables before putting in place if your machine can safley lift that much.
weight
Make stiffbacks for your gable ends out of 2 long 2x4's nailed at a 90 deg angle run them up the wall to hold the gable upright.Be sure measure all of the truss tails from 1 side of the sill plate (overhang) to the truss end as you set them to keep your eaves/ridge lined up& straight.
we used to cut a bunch of 2x4's 25-1/2" long to keep the 24" oc spacing going as you go. after you get a few up,put in some diagonal bracing to prevent the dominoe effect described above.
also look at the post below this by stick004 about stiffening gable walls theres a good pic of trusses. we used to also run a 2x4 out on top & both sides like he has to help line them up as you go along

the ply clips go between the trusses 4 per sheet put them on the shhet below and as you lay down the upper sheet it falls down onto the clips(sorryI can't think of a better way do describe it)

 

[Sureshot]

Make spacer blocks for the sides and top so you do not have to fool with a tape measure all the time. Put a piece slightly longer than the space on top the spacers used for the roof area so you can set it in and pull it tight without it falling out.

I think Hank McMauser meant 22 1/2" spacers but he may have a different technic.

A fiend of mine has started using t&g for roofs. He thinks for the cost difference it is worth it long term.

 

[NUTTSGT]

The guys above have given you some good advice, you can also check out Youtube and watch some videos of them being installed.

 

[rockchucker]

Mark the tops and sides (so you can see the mark from below also) of the Top Plate for your layout. Always use 2 lines so there is no question what side the Truss is supposed to be on. Double and triple check your layout before getting started. Square up your building. If adjustments are needed then use metal Banding or a Come-Along to run a huge X from corner to corner and use your Come-Along to adjust for square. I never Truss anything 24" OC. I ALWAYS go 16" OC. the cost is so negligible for a much stronger building. Sheet the End Truss on the ground. If you are fancy you can even get your Siding on the End Wall before it goes up.

Attach 2x4's or 2x6's 12' at least to the end wall sticking straight up past the top of the Truss. All Vertical. Make sure the center one reaches to the peak. Might have to go for a 16" to get it up there. The two on the sides should extend past the roofline and end up in about the middle of the roof on each side. This way when you set your first Truss you have something to lean it against and set it in place Plumb. Don't forget to account for the Sheeting if you have not sheeted your Building yet. I like to Sheet the Building before the Trusses go up for Structural Support and to help prevent Racking when moving around on the Walls.

Once the End Truss is set in place and Plumb, screw or nail it off to the Boards that are vertical past the Roofline and Peak and Toe Nail it along the bottom edge. Have plenty of 8-10" 2x4's on hand for setting the walls also. I use a few 4-5' at first to tie of the first Truss. You don't want your supports hanging out in the way of the next Truss coming in. Set the second Truss on the lines you have marked out and Toe Nail it to the Top Plate. Since the End Truss is Plumb (MAKE SURE OF THIS IN THE FIRST PLACE!!!) just hook your Tape over the End wall (accounting for the Sheeting of course) and start your layout. Take a 2x4 and tack it by the upright on the End Truss and lay it over the next Truss. Measure and tack the Second Truss in place. If you measured right this Truss will also be Plumb. Third Truss the same way only when you measure for the Center of the Truss ALWAYS MEASURE FROM THE END TRUSS!!! DO NOT MEASURE FROM TRUSS TO TRUSS!!!! This is very important for the layout. This way you keep tabs on all of the Trusses and you can visually check for mistakes every time you measure. Each time staggering lengths of 2x4's to hold them in place as you go. These will eventually be removed and used to build shelves or whatever in your new shop. Depending on your roof you will want to try to lay these 2x4's up high enough so you can get 2-4' runs of Sheeting on the roof before removing them. If you do this right then once you get to the 2x's the building will be strong enough for them to be removed. Of course before you sheet the Building you have to have to build your Gable End overhangs and such. Give yourself 2" of overhang on the Gable Ends.

 

[1BADLS1tuner]

I love this site!

You guy are all great! I really appreciate your help!

I decided to have a friend come over and help me out tomorrow, he used to build houses in colorado so he will be good help to have around!

 

[dirttracker18]

Hire a boom truck to get them up. We hand bombed mine with 12' walls, I would never do that again. What took all day could have been done by lunch

 

[Tim Kennedy]

Actually around here - PA - h-clips are code - they have nothing to do with the roofing material being too thin. They are put there to keep the sheathing even with itself & for expansion. Every roof job I have ever been a part of - using plywood not OSB - plywood must be installed with gaps on the long sides for expansion not butted tight together.

 

[twocoda]

do all your work and measuring off of ONE straight/plumb braced wall...i agree with the boom to set the trusses up especially with a span of 32 feet...everyone else seems to have you in the right direction of advice
Cheers and good luck with the project

 

[brownbagg]

I have one problem with a tip mention here, because I did it. and that is with the spacer block. you will never get the truss tight enough so by the end of the run you are out of your 24 o.c and then the plywood will not land on the truss. If the spacers are not cut square, the truss not perfect flat, it will move the truss a little.

I know I did it

mark the nail plate two foot line, so line on outside of truss, lay to line and then toenail. toenail will also move the truss a little. once lay to line and toenail and brace, then add the spacer. They will fit tight and everything lock together. now the time for hurricane clips

 

[tcsalvage]

when my garage roof was put on the guys doing it used 2 x 4 with notches cut in them to set the trusses, they used two on the top and two on the bottom. this was for prefabbed trusses spanning 50 feet and they were set two at a time with a crane.

 

[Kevin54]

I use these Simpson Hurricane Ties, mount them onto the top plate in the right location, then drop the trusses into them. I'll start at the end, brace the first truss, then start working my way towards the other end. Juast make sure you have a few long 2x's on hand to brace your trusses as you go.

 

[Cobra6]

I got a guy who knew what he was doing, took his advice and rented a crane.
I had them all up in 2 or 3 hours.

 

[tyjoja]

lay out the side plates for 2 foot on center. put 3 2x6s nailed on the starting side nailed to the wall and sticking up to hold the first 1. get a scaffold with wheels just below the heighth of the walls to roll around inside. get some boards ready for for spacing/nailing, probably 2 or 3 to nail to the first and continue across. stick 2 boards out on 1 side of overhang 2 feet out and put a string as tight as you can and bump each truss w/sledge till it touches the string and on your layout and nail'em in, put the plates on later. use extra support when cutting the bands on truss stacks. get subroof on as quick as poss.

 

[1BADLS1tuner]

I use these Simpson Hurricane Ties, mount them onto the top plate in the right location, then drop the trusses into them. I'll start at the end, brace the first truss, then start working my way towards the other end. Juast make sure you have a few long 2x's on hand to brace your trusses as you go.

These are what i purchased, I figured it might be easier to place them and then set the trusses in them

 

[Hank McMauser]

Make spacer blocks for the sides and top so you do not have to fool with a tape measure all the time. Put a piece slightly longer than the space on top the spacers used for the roof area so you can set it in and pull it tight without it falling out.

I think Hank McMauser meant 22 1/2" spacers but he may have a different technic.

A fiend of mine has started using t&g for roofs. He thinks for the cost difference it is worth it long term.

We cut them to 25-1/2 so they fit over the two trusses outside edge to outside edge then nail in from the top. they are removed when installing sheeting.

 

[1BADLS1tuner]

We cut them to 25-1/2 so they fit over the two trusses outside edge to outside edge then nail in from the top. they are removed when installing sheeting.

I need to cut a bunch of those, cant be any more simple than that

 

[ForceFed70]

The crane truck is worth every penny.

We did my 32x40 building in approx 3 hrs with the truck.

Since I knew I had the crane comming, I put the hurricane brackets on in advance. It made locating the trusses really easy (just put them in the bracket). That doesn't work if you're planning to slide the trusses across the top plate tho.

 

[thejon2524]

Actually around here - PA - h-clips are code - they have nothing to do with the roofing material being too thin. They are put there to keep the sheathing even with itself & for expansion. Every roof job I have ever been a part of - using plywood not OSB - plywood must be installed with gaps on the long sides for expansion not butted tight together.

There should not be any movement of the sheething material.

 

[1BADLS1tuner]

got a decent start on the trusses today... took alot longer than expected to finish up a few little things befor I started... me and a buddy sheathed and put up the dropped truss and put up 8 more, then it got dark...

If we would have just had the trusses to do it would have more than likely been done today.

Everything went better than expected with the trusses tho, especially for just 2 of us

 

[megalo]

According to my city's plans examiner, toe nailing of prefab trusses is not allowed - he said they'll fail my inspection if I do it.

My plan is to install the Simpson ties a few posts up (H10) ahead of time and drop the trusses in.

 

[Milton Shaw]

I put mine on 24" centers for the roof trusses. I put my floor trusses on 19.5 centers, one extra per 4x8 sheet. I wish I had done the roof the same way its a lot stronger to have 5 instead of just 4, and the roof on 24 inch centers has got a little wave in it after nearly 20 years. The trusses required a board running the length of the roof on both sides to tie them together and that made a big difference. Before I got more than the felt on the roof we had a 18 inch snow on the roof and it held without the tie boards, haven't had that much snow since though. In Knoxville Tn, that kind of snow is unusual. I had a 2x4 safety rail on the deck sitting on edge with the 2" up and had 15 inches of snow just sitting on the top of the 2x4, must not have been any wind or it would have blown it off. Really strange snow for Knoxville. The floor trusses had strongbacks running the length of the floor to tie them together and I reinforced one and used it to hang a forged eye screw to hang a chain hoist on.. Its worked for engine swaps etc.

 

[speed bump]

There should not be any movement of the sheething material.

Sorry but if you put wood up in a non climate controlled environment it will expand and contract. If you don't compensate for that with something like H-clips (which considering the alternative are the only way to go) then in a few years your roof will start showing some nice heaves and buckles.