Anybody ever build your own roof trusses?

[mscher]

I'm planning to someday build a pole barn, possibly with a gambrel roof. Maybe 40' wide.

thinking that the labor costs and trucking probably add quite a bit to the cost of trusses, although they probably save on materials.

I bielive that I could do it with some plans and basic tips.

Thanks for any input

 

[Kenneth Brown]

Re: Anybody ever build your own roof trusses?

I built the trusses on my garage, which is 24' wide. I'd gladly do it again. I don't think I could envision building ones that were 40' though. If you do venture into this I would suggest to "pre-stress" them with a very slight upwards bow to it. I didn't do this and I have about 1/2" downward deflection. You could never see it in my garage but I can. Be prepared for some HARD work when you try to stand them up and balance, you'll need several good and strong freinds.

 

[OBJ]

Re: Anybody ever build your own roof trusses?

Built my own trusses for my garage. Made a jig to cut angles and to lay the 2/6's in to keep them the same. Used 1/4" plywood as gussets. Drove a lot of 8 pennies back then. Guns just weren't that common.

Lay them out on paper first using an architects scale to figure pitch, length and height. Takes awhile....lot of cutting and fitting on the first couple. My garage is 25' wide. I built the trusses for a 1' over hang. I used 2X6's cause they were free...d And you will need an area relatively flat and level so you can set up the jig. And some muscle when you move the completed truss. At 40+ ft wide, they will have some weight to them.

 

[stevieray]

Re: Anybody ever build your own roof trusses?

Better check the local building codes - here trusses for a house have to be designed by a PE, built in a registered shop & stamped or the inspector will fail them.

However, where you are, and for a barn, you may not need to do anything special.

For 40 footers, I would have a tendency to have a pro do the design - mainly for the snow & wind load calcs. And you will probably need a crane to hoist ones that size up & a pro will design them so they can be easily craned as well.

I see no reason why you couldn't site-build them as long as you can meet any applicable codes.

 

[tie_one_on]

Re: Anybody ever build your own roof trusses?

When I built mine, I laid out heavy pencil lines on a flat concrete surface. Then after you cut the pieces it was just as matter of laying them on the floor and making sure they lined up with your pencil lines. Used plywood pieces as gussets. Takes a bit of time for the first one but after that they fly together. After your first one, use all those predetermined angles to cut enough pieces for all the trusses. This way you'll be cutting everything the same way for all the trusses.
Good luck.

 

[Laddies]

Re: Anybody ever build your own roof trusses?

The State of Michigans building code won't allow you to build trusses anymore so better ck Indiana codes first

 

[Barlow]

Re: Anybody ever build your own roof trusses?

40' trusses.. gambrel roof = more than you can handle.

Call a component plant for a quote.