How To Build Roof Trusses In A Simple And Elegant Way

These days, couple of different materials are used for roof framing (e.g. steel, aluminum, timber) and it depends on preferences of the roof architect (and partly of the home owner as well) and planned budget which one is chosen.
Nevertheless, there is one clear winner of the roof framing material battle and you are right if you guessed it was the wood.

Wood will always be the basic material for the roof truss construction as it is a warm, natural and very reliable material, for many people it represents a symbol of safety and friendly home atmosphere and despite of some newer architecture trends, wood probably remains the main framing material for a long time even in the future.

Usual problems with building roof truss

Though timber used for roof framing is a good, solid and sturdy material, wooden roof structures always have weak point which are the truss members joints. Wood itself is able to bear the load of the framing itself and also the load of the other roof layers (sheathing, insulation, shingles), anyway, the joinery remains the porblematic part of every roof.

Gable roof truss framing built with LumberLink Easyware.

Wood trusses joinery methods

There is couple of different wood joinery techniques trying to eliminate the weak wood truss joints problem (lap truss joints, finger truss joints, tenon truss joints, miter or dado joints, various gang nail plates), we can get back to them more in details in another article; nevertheless, still the joint part is weaker than the the truss member itself.

Is matal the solution in roof truss construction

Metal trusses are successfully used in the commercial buildings where the walls are built to last higher weights, but they are not that advisable for residential buildings, where simply, the lighter the roof is, the better.

Gambrel roof truss framing built with LumberLink Easyware.

Simple roof truss joinery system - LumberLink Easyware from SocketSystems

LumberLink is a truss joining system consisting of square, hollow, tubular steel couplers for 6" x 6" wood frame members.

With these couplers the truss member joining ends are simply cased in the metal jacket which holds them firmly and so eliminates the weakness of the joint.

Simple roof truss design = enough living space

Using the LumberLink, you can forget about majority of the vertical and supporting members as the frame is firm enough even withouth them.

In-model presentation of all the LumberLink Easyware steel couplers fro 6x6 inch wooden roof trusses.

To get more information on the LumberLink Easyware, please feel free to visit the Socketsystems website.