Truss spacing on 30 x 36 Pole Barn

[Vendatasol]

Hi-
what is the common truss spacing for a 30wx36' deep pole barn- Im being quoted 12' OC, but am reading most common is 8' OC...
Im planning on 14' eaves, and adding an elevated space in rear of shop.. 12' OC is nice for space but if it isnt great for support, then thats a problem.. in the PNW area..
Thanks..

 

[mike93lx]

It's whatever the system is designed for. If it's engineered for 12', then it will work fine.

If you want it narrower, just tell the engineer /designer

Don't think I have seen 12' but I don't have a lot of experience with pile barns. Watching YouTube vide, 8' does seem most common

 

[larry_g]

I'm on 12' centers in my pole building which is not uncommon in this area. Hanging around this forum you will find that buildings are built different in different areas of the country. The PNW is a huge area with lots of different climates and requirements. See my build linked below.

lg
no neat sig line

 

[Skooterj]

Before I stick built my detached garage, I went down this rabbit hole. Truss spacing can be whatever the design engineer uses and properly designs the building for. So, obviously a wider spacing is cheaper, right??? Not necessarily. The wider your spacing, the fewer trusses and posts, so that saves money, but then all the girts and purlins need upsized, and that cost more money. It basically worked out to be a wash. So if I was building a post frame, I would just use whatever measurement worked out the best. 30 foot wide, 10 foot spacing. 33 foot, 11 foot. 32 foot, I'd go 8. 36 foot, I'd go 12 or 9. A good design engineer should be able to accommodate whichever.

 

[billconner]

As noted, trusses can be designed for any spacing. I believe that aligning trusses on the posts is better planning than setting them on headers between the posts.

 

[jblnut]

Are you going to put a ceiling in it ? That alone has dictated truss spacing for me more than anything. If steel is going on the ceiling I’d go 4’. If sheet rock I’d go 2’. If no ceiling go whatever it’s engineered for.

 

[kj_mustang]

Are you going to put a ceiling in it ? That alone has dictated truss spacing for me more than anything. If steel is going on the ceiling I’d go 4’. If sheet rock I’d go 2’. If no ceiling go whatever it’s engineered for.

Agree, Drywall ceiling will require trusses with bottom chord rating and spacing to handle the weight. I have 2' spaced scissor trusses in half my building that has drywall attached and 4' spaced regular trusses in the other half that has metal liner panels for the ceiling. Snow load rating and wind rating will all be considered by the design engineer.

 

[JeepYJ]

If you build with the common 8’ pole spacing why not build it 32x36?

 

[WisJim]

Hard to answer a structural question without knowing your location.

 

[Mainiac Mat]

Without knowing the roof load requirements in your particular jurisdiction (If you haven't checked with your code officer, you should), there's no way anyone can answer this question with anything other than a wild guess.

Assuming you're not making your own trusses, whoever the truss mfg. is should have a stamped truss plan, and that will have the design load info. listed. If they are a local vendor, they should know the requirements of your jurisdiction and be using the correct data. I've never had an issue receiving the truss plan when requested.

 

[Vendatasol]

Thanks for the informative responses!