Setting Roof Trusses By Hand

I ve successfully lifted two sets of 80 foot span roof trusses along with all of the roof purlins and truss bracing using winch boxes.

Setting roof trusses by hand.

Erecting the first gable truss. After setting the second truss in the same manner workers attach a ridge beam to the peak of both trusses. They then nail it to the wall plate and attach temporary braces to hold it upright. The beam extends to the far end of the roof hanging over.

So use a tape measure to find the height of the roof above the top wall of the building. Any roof truss that s over 30 long and has a pitch greater than 5 12 is probably too big to be lifting by hand. The first step in wood truss erection is setting the gable truss first truss. Setting subsequent trusses the workers then set the second truss in a similar manner to the first and attach a ridge beam at the apex of each truss.

Trusses are made up of diverse even members that can be made of wood or metal and then arranged into triangular shapes. The workers manually position the first truss at the end of the roof on the corresponding number on the wall plate. However with a few erection tips you can erect wood trusses safely and efficiently. Also measure the length of half of the roof from one side of the ridge beam to the edge of the building.

Wood truss erection can be dangerous and time consuming. Not only is it really heavy it s going to be too wobbly to safely set by hand get a crane. Those who have built and used them rave about the time spent building the hand lift jacks was well worth it. If the roof rises 7 inches 18 cm for every 1 foot 0 30 m its pitch would be written as 7 12.

Roof truss basics roof trusses are engineered wood alternatives to hand framed rafters. Because trusses are set on the outer bearing walls of a building the interior layout can change before and after construction. A roof truss is a tectonic framework of some type of dedicated support material that can perfectly traverse the free space above a room.