A roof truss is a structural framework that serves as a foundation to make a strong roof. With the roof alone, it cannot withstand any weight from circumstantial or natural effects. This entails that a roof truss is the skeleton of your roof, making it stand firmly and even giving you space between the topmost part of your room and your roof.
However, roof truss must be specifically designed. Creating the best possible roof truss can give you the security that can go along the test of time. This is essential because aside from giving support to your roof, it also ties the outside walls of your home together.
While roof trusses are typically triangular, you may want to have a list of the most used roof trusses for specific uses:
1. King Post Truss
Considered the simplest roofing design, this roof truss is specially designed for short-span roofing projects. It has fewer truss materials, with 2 top chords, one bottom chord, 2 webbing chords, and one central chord. However, this is only good for short-span roofing, as fewer materials can mean only for roofs that do not carry so much weight.
2. Queen Post Truss
Aside from the King, there must also be a Queen Post Truss. This kind of roofing foundation is good for residential home construction that can span a roof to about 8 to 12 meters. However, this truss has 2 queen posts connected by a straining beam. Thus, this is suited for larger residential roofing projects.
3. Fink Truss
One of the most common roof trusses for residential purposes, this type of truss design has a “W” shaped webbing that can carry considerable amounts of load. This truss also allows additional space for storage, where you can place your water tanks or any other home essentials if needed. They can also span roofing up to 14 meters.
4. Attic Truss
As the name says, this truss can be used to give additional storage or even a living space if need be. As many trusses can use a lot of space, attic trusses do the trick; it has 2 vertical posts like that of the queen post, but has a rectangular space at the centre to provide more space but still creates a strong foundation that balances above loads. You may use this truss for roofs spanning 25 meters.
5. Scissors Truss
This type of truss creates a vaulted cathedral ceiling foundation, with its bottom chords sloped. Even if they are easily built and convenient to be used, they can still carry a huge amount of load while providing a high ceiling effect for your home. You may use these in your living room, and can also span up to 22 meters. However, they can still come at a higher cost compared to others.
6. Gable Truss
Gable trusses have 2 top chords and 1 bottom chord, with many central chords placed vertically for a better and stronger foundation against big roof loads. While they are designed simple, they can cost higher than other truss designs as it needs to have many materials at the center of the truss. For better pictures, gable trusses are designed like bookshelves with considerable and balanced spacing in between central posts.
When deciding what roof truss to incorporate for your building, there can be countless roof truss designs to structure your roof. Yet, when finding the best one, they usually vary with specific applications. Roof truss designs have accompanying differences, and no roof truss design is innately stronger than the other; it must be best to know the perfect type of roofing you must associate with your building.
