Wall height or Scissor trusses

[prae]

Which would you rather have:

10ft walls with standard truss, (little under a) 6/12 slope across a 20ft span

OR

8ft walls with scissor trusses, 8/12 slope across a 20ft span, providing a peak interior height of ~11ft.

No need for a car lift in either one. More storage the better.

Which would you choose and why?

what about 10ft walls and attic trusses?

 

[aqr81]

I'm not sure what's behind the either or on roof pitch. Are you trying to match the roof pitch on the house? If not, by my way of thinking taller walls are better and you never know about the lift. Maybe not now, but in a few years, who knows? If attic storage is a desired outcome you could get it with standard or attic storage truss design. Just make sure the standard is engineered to handle the load. Having said all that, I'd go with the taller wall height and the 8/12 pitch to get a little more head room in both aspects. You'll need to check the specs and prices of the trusses. A couple feet taller on the walls is a relatively small incrimental increase in overall cost of the structure. Just my 2¢

 

[prae]

local building codes prevent me from making it higher than 15ft tall. therein lies my dilemma! So if you had to choose...

I'll never match the pitch of my roof, its 10/12 or perhaps 12/12. one and a half storey.

I agree with you on the truss pricing. I have looked into the costs of taller walls and it's minor. However I'm not sure what kind of a premium I'd pay for scissor trusses. 20ft is a relatively small span so I'm not anticipating a huge differential.

 

[metal1313]

what about conventional framing? over that small of a span it should be to costly

 

[prae]

what about conventional framing? over that small of a span it should be to costly

hmmm. I had not considered this. I am in Canada and snow loading is a definite factor.

I was going to go with prebuilt trusses simply for ease of assembly.

 

[aqr81]

I will be going with scissor truss design and the cost was minimal compared to standard design. If you go that route, then you must be planning on a overhead storage area - all the more reason for the additional wall height.

 

[rwhite692]

If you have no plans to have a lift, go for attic storage.

I have a lift and so, built with scissor trusses. My 24x36 is 10' at the side walls and 13'6" at the interior peak. Some pics in the thread at the link below.