Floor and Roof Trusses - 'How it's Made'

[bartnagel]

I wanted to compliment your videographer and gaffer for the lovely lighting on Jordan in the truss yard. Are there Construction Video Oscars?—this deserves an award.

[facereader]

I absolutely adored the way you spoke. You know your subject for sure, but the fluency, the selection of words, the intonation, is a natural gift. May you flourish ever more. Thank you!

[tylerrunion]

As a person who builds trusses, I wish our shop was like this. We set every jig by hand with boards and metal angles, we put all the boards in and beat the plates down then flip them out ourselves on to the rollers, tack the plates on then send it through the press. It’s crazy to see it done like this

[TheRayRay]

This place is about a mile from my house. Did not realize how high tech it is. Nice to know more about what is in my back yard.

[benswowacct]

I thought about playing a drinking game, taking a drink every time you said trusses, then remembered I like living. Great video!

[mikeappleby]

The top and bottom chords are not only in tension or compression. They have uniform loads from the roof above and the attic/ceiling below, so they're also in bending and shear between the node points. They would be purely in tension or compression if the loads were only applied at the nodes, which is a traditional truss configuration.

[colinstu]

Man after the Swiss/German series, this thing looks like it's made out of toothpicks.

[henryfleming]

Matt, i love your videos. I live in south Texas so I apply a lot of the same solutions you present.

But I think Jordan has the tension, compression description wrong. Start with a 3 piece gable configuration, two angled top chords and one horizontal bottom chord to make a triangle as you see on the outside of the truss shown. Clearly the shorter angled top pieces are in compression, and the bottom horizontal piece is in tension to keep the roof from flattening out. Jordan is correct to here.
The longest piece of the trio is the bottom, which will try and sag. Add one vertical tension chord from the center of the bottom to the peak. This will prevent bottom sag by pulling up and it increases the compression on the top chords which also increases the tension on the bottom chord.

The next longest pieces are the angled top chords along the roof deck. To prevent these from sagging, you can put a diagonal compression member from the center of the top chords to meet at the center of bottom chord. These diagonal members increases the tension on the vertical centerline chord which increases the loading as described previously.

The next longest part to sag is either side of center of the bottom chord. You can counter this with two vertical tension chords at the middle of the half spans, or at one quartet of the length from the ends. The tension on this short vertical chord will increase the compression on the bottom portions of the top chord and the diagonal compression chords meeting at the centerline, and so on.

Jordan is looking at the bottom chord like it’s a big beam taking vertical loads from vertical chords.

So basically the diagonal pieces on the interior of the gable configuration will be in compression and the vertical pieces will be in tension. The right side has a short vertical member where it looks like it’s a loading point or wall support position.

The tail end of the truss at the roof drip edge will be reversed in forces. The top will be in tension and horizontal chord part will be in compression. The left side does not have the extension beyond the wall support point.

If you look at an end gable structure with a wall under its entirety, then it will have vertical studs all under compression. Supported the entire length by a wall underneath.

Best regards, Henry

[patrickkeller]

As a firefighter I have to warn you about those nailplate fasteners, they tend to rattle loose during construction, or through termal stress across seasons. Then when there is a fire they will start popping out and the entire construction can collapse as fast as 15 minutes. Because of that, this type of construction has actually been outlawed in the city by our fire inspector.

[stevepailet]

just got to go on a tour of a truss factory two weeks ago.. watching the 6 head saw machine.. amazing.. then watching the guy tacking the the trusses.. 5 minutes for 45 foot long truss then run down the line press down the plates. The machine is so heavy that runs down the line.. if it hits a hammer that was inadvertently left on the line.. POOF one claw removed

[refusoagaino]

Pretty sure these guys measured, cut and delivered my roof in Cook Springs AL., in 2003-4. It was a "Prairie style" hipped roof on the house with two ridges. I was using a 3D program for the design, and they had something compatible that made it drop together like a play toy.

[Jordan-wsjy]

This is so cool! I wish we had this available to us. I've never seen any setup like this before.

[MUSEDRL]

You guys produce a very professional video.
On trusses: Roof trusses are awesome and the automated factory made truss is the way to go.
Floor trusses are not so wonderful. They are more economical and have the advantage of space for utilities, but they are lethal to firemen. A 2 x 10 floor joist will withstand a considerable amount of fire before it fails, but the truss floor becomes extremely weak in just a few minutes of fire and a fireman walking onto a truss floor that has a fire below can easily fall through.
Just my opinion.

[allysonbeaulieu]

super interesting!! i’m shifting career paths into the framing and truss industry, and i wanted to make sure i had some basic knowledge of the product! thanks for the help

[MikeBMW]

I cannot finalize a plan until I get the truss information: bearing walls, point loads, uplift loads (choosing the proper connector), etc, so I can design the foundation appropriately.
Great vid! :)

[zaneh]

Thanks for showing the Mitek factory, awesome how the automation help produce a better product, use Mitek trusses all the time but never seen how they were made.

[wingmanalive]

Been designing trusses for 20+ years. Done residential and commercial. I currently work for one of if not THE largest component manufacturers in the industry. I can say without hesitation that the truss designer is THE most important part of the process yet is the least paid. I know because I've worked for 3 companies in my journey upward. It's a shame because we take on so many tasks and have to constantly learn new codes and software. Yet all the salesmen do is forward emails and they make twice what we do. I love what I do, I really do. I just wish I was paid accordingly. I can design a floor and roof for a $900, 000 home and I'm paid the same as the guy who replaced your tires on your car. Is that fair?

[SLNason]

In Canada we see almost all trusses. The Sapphire viewer works great as you can search and see a certain truss.

[JohnVance]

Is it weird that my favorite part of this is the software?

[KevboBaggins]

Nice job, Jordan. I think you are hitting your stride with this one.