Strengthen Your Roof with Trusses

After hurricanes ravaged Florida in recent years, building codes were strengthened to keep future damage to a minimum. Officials and builders have learned that keeping the lid on a house means forming a tight bond between the sail-like roof deck and the walls below. That job falls to the engineered roof truss system that holds it all together.

Trusses Surpass Traditional Framing

Carpenters used to use two-by lumber to frame into stringers and rafters. Engineers and architects now design roof trusses built of 2x4s in triangular configurations that are joined together with metal connector plates. The result is a cohesive roof truss that stands up to state, local, and national building codes. Trusses perform to such a high degree because the lumber is uniform in size, density, and quality, and metal connector plates ensure rigidity at joints.

Engineered trusses have been on the building scene for 35 years, a track record that impresses many builders and homeowners. Kirk Grundahl, executive director of the Wood Truss Council of America (WTCA), in Madison, WI, says homeowners can be assured their roof trusses are engineered to exacting design standards nationwide since manufacturers must meet the standards set by WTCA and the Truss Plate Institute (TPI).

Sean O’Connor of Robbins Engineering, in Tampa, FL — designers, plate fabricators, and truss system engineers — explains that roof trusses create a stronger roof structure because they are engineered using CAD (computer-aided design) design techniques and computer analysis for worst-case scenarios.

“Because every one of the roof trusses are engineered, it literally takes into consideration all the forces acting on the truss, from gravity loads to wind loads, seismic loads, and uplift loads,” O’Connor says.