Trusses and Roof Decking Started

Last week, we finished the wall framing and put up the roof trusses. We’re now working on the roof decking. Roofs are hard! That’s my official position.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The first truss. We hired Art, who owns a sign company in town. He also lifts trusses on the side. I considered doing this step by hand, but decided against it when I thought through it. It was worth the $285 he charged me to come out and set them in place. We have two gable trusses and 14 common.

Before putting up the first gable truss, we installed long 2x4’s to the east side of the house extending up above the top plate to give the gable something to rest against.

After putting up the first four trusses, we stopped and braced them with a) a diagonal from the top tip of the gable truss to the bottom of the fourth truss, b) two diagonal braces from the bottom corners of the gable truss to the top ridge of the fourth truss, and c) a “rat run”, which consists of 2x4’s nailed across the top of the bottom cords of each truss. You’ll also notice the 2x4 blocks we put between each truss near the top to ensure proper spacing. These were 22-1/2” long and we used the same size blocks to space the bottoms of the trusses before nailing them to the top plate.

And here’s the part where I went wrong: The hoist guy came a little early and I was not ready. Feeling rushed, I failed to mark the top plates at 2 feet on center and instead decided to rely on the blocks for spacing. What I didn’t figure was that the trusses had nail plates at the corners right where we were placing the blocks for spacing and these nail plates were about a 16'th of an inch thick. Consequently, over the length of the building (30’), we gained an accumulated extra 2 inches of space between the trusses. This was a problem when we started nailing on the roof decking when we found the trusses were not exactly 2-foot on center. So, we had to start using nailers face-nailed to the top cord of the truss to compensate. Not the end of the world. After the roof is covered, and the sheet rock is installed, no one will know the difference. Just a word to the wise: Take the time to mark the top plates.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I love the shadows cast by a trussed roof. We were about half way done here.

And another word to the wise: Put a reference mark at one end of each truss before lifting them into place. Because I couldn’t rely on the top plate of the back wall being perfectly straight (although we tried), I struck a chalk line the full length of the top plate five inches in from the building line. I then placed a mark five inches in from the end of the bottom cord of each truss to use to line up the truss right on the chalk line. I missed one of the trusses and mistook a dark spot on the wood for the mark and ended up placing one truss about a half inch in (away from the mark on top of the eave wall), so it was not lined up with the other trusses. I didn’t find this error until we were about done with the roof framing. Because I couldn’t live with knowing it was off, and because it would have affected the decking, shed roof, and fascias, we cut all the nails holding the truss in place and shifted it over to match up. I’m sure I’ve built this entire building twice with all the rework. Mark well and avoid this kind of mistake.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I had some good help. Here’s Bryce showing me his “owie”, which he courageously won involving a nail and a thumb (hey, that rhymes). Jason and Cameron (not shown here) were my other trusted and very much appreciated helpers. Just a note that Jason won his purple heart the next day when his left index finger got between a hammer head and the intended target. Ouch.

 

 

 

 

 

 

There’s Cameron (on the far end of the last gable truss). Here we are putting up the last truss. On the advice of Art, who’s done this a few times before, we put the wall sheathing on the last truss before we installed it, which saved a lot of time. We also repeated the same bracing on this end as we did on the other end.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The next couple of days, we framed the shed rafters and ceiling joists over the front of the building (notice the change of pitch on the front), installed the lookouts (2x4’s extending from the first common truss, through a notch in the gable truss, and out past the building line to receive the “barge” rafters), the barge rafters themselves, the sub-fascia on the front and back of the house, and started putting up the roof decking.

I know I over-build and I know I’ve not done things as efficiently as a professional. That’s a given. I’m trying to improve, because it takes so much time and effort to do anything, I really need to cut down on as many steps as possible. That being said, I always install 2x4’s on the end of the rafter tails as a sub-fascia, and as barge rafters. Then, I install the trim boards, which are 1 x lumber, wider than the 2x4’s, and extend down past them about 3/4”. It is possible to use the final trim boards as the fascia and barge rafters, but I just seem to feel better with doing structural framing first. Maybe I’ll change my mind, given how much work it is putting up these pieces, but that’s where I’m at now.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I rented a material lift from a neighbor to hoist the 4x8 sheets of roof decking. I was expecting (or hoping) to finish the roof framing by Saturday morning and then use the lift while installing all of the roof decking. But, surprise, it took longer than expected to frame the roof. We didn’t even get started on the decking until about 7:00pm. So, by the time we got two rows of sheets up on the back, it was starting to get dark. I only had the lift until Monday morning and I don’t work on Sunday (my Sabbath). The only thing we could do is frame some supports on the roof and lift as many of the sheets as we could. It was starting to get a little dicey putting up the front stacks, as it was getting dark, and Jason had to use a flashlight on his hand so I could see his signals. I finally called it quits after that, even though we still had about a dozen sheets on the ground. I’ll just have to lift those myself the old-fashioned way.

So, I feel some pressure to finish installing the decking, cut off the sheets ends, and order the metal. However, I will be looking for a good roofing contractor to possibly do the metal roof (that’s what Connie wants, since she said she’d rather the roof take longer and have me with her than finish the roof sooner and be alone). It’s starting to take shape.