Understanding spacing for roof trusses is crucial when you are about to build a house or building. As always, the roof is considered one of the essential parts of a building.
Without a roof, the building won’t have any protective shield. Without the right spacing on the trusses, the roof will certainly collapse and damage everything underneath it.
What is the Spacing for Roof Trusses?
You should know about spacing roof trusses, especially those whose jobs revolve around building construction. A roof truss is a structural frame bridging one side of the roof to the other side.
Basically, it is like longitudinal beams that support the whole roof, preventing the roof from collapsing. Spacing is usually used to describe the space between each truss usually called the bay.
See Also : 10 Types of Roof Trusses
Standard Spacing Roof Trusses
They are different from one type of building to another. However, as the house becomes the most typical building to construct, the roofing on the house is the standard one. Here is more information that you need to know when you are looking for the answer to the standard spacing:
Typical Standard
The typical standard for the spacing on the roof trusses is 24 inches. This is most likely the standard size that you will find on pre-made roof trusses. As most frame buildings use those pre-made trusses on the roof, 24 inches becomes the main size for any roofing construction when it comes to its truss installation.
Pieces of Lumber
For the 24-inch size, there are certain amounts of lumber pieces that you need to install. According to the standard size, the roof should be properly built when two to four lumber pieces support the whole structure. The roof’s strength will depend heavily on the strength of these lumbers.
See also: How to Build Roof Trusses for a Garage
The spacing of Trusses for Metal Roof
Traditionally, roof trusses are made of timber or wood. It has been done for centuries. Woods are considered the strongest, most resilient materials to hold up the roof’s structure. However, as technology advances, metal roof trusses become a thing. Metal is, surely, even stronger than wood.
Aluminum Roof Trusses
Aluminum is a lighter kind of metal. It is strong, but it is more like on the lightweight side. Those who want to use aluminum roof trusses make sure that the kind of building they are about to construct is a smaller, lighter one, too, such as a moving house or container house.
Iron Roof Trusses
Unlike aluminum, iron is a heavy type of metal. It is solid and impossible to bend. The roof trusses made out of iron are usually installed on a tall, massive building that needs proper and solid structure on the roofing.
Roof Truss Spacing Shed
The shed is a unique kind of building. It is a small house in the yard. The shed is often taken for granted when it comes to construction due to its small size. However, the building shed will require some roof trusses, too.
See Also : Ideal Pitch for Shed Roof
Rafters vs. Trusses
A shed is usually using a rafter on the roof. However, trusses are also great for roofing. The rafter is like the sloped beams installed horizontally on the roof, providing a higher ceiling. Trusses, on the contrary, use numerous bridging beams. The latter provides better support as it can manage the heavier burden. That is why trusses are better, after all, for use as roof support on a shed.
Benefits of Trusses for Shed
There are several benefits to using trusses instead of rafters on the roof shed. First, trusses are definitely cheaper. It costs less money compared to rafters. This is a good thing considering that the shed is usually a secondary building in the property, and it should not cost you a lot of money to build in the first place.
Second, trusses are way stronger than rafters. They are providing more support and better weight-tolerance for the roof. As the shed will be placed outside with nothing on the above, trusses will keep the shed standing strong even when the weather is terrible and chaotic.
Now you know everything about the roof trusses and their spacing regulation. You should be able to build the roof properly. Considering the roof will hold everything together in that building, a collapsing roof is the last thing you want to have.
