Framing horse stalls in pole barn ?

   / Framing horse stalls in pole barn ? #1  

stub

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Indiana
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Kubota L3940HST, Kubota 7510HST (traded)
I'm ready to frame some interior stud walls for horse stalls in my new pole barn. The barn is raised about 18" above surrounding grade on a mixture of asphalt millings and bank run gravel/sand.

The slab floats inside the posts.

I'm planning on framing the inside stud walls on top of the slab. My question is, should I nail the top plate of the walls to the the roof trusses, or should I make a bracket of some kind with a slot to allow independant movement between the slab and the barn trusses?

Looks to me like if I tie them solid, it will crack the slab and/or bow the trusses, since the barn framing and the slab can move relative to each other.

Or am I worrying about nothing?
 
   / Framing horse stalls in pole barn ? #2  
My question is, should I nail the top plate of the walls to the the roof trusses, or should I make a bracket of some kind with a slot to allow independant movement between the slab and the barn trusses?

You should not attach the plates to the bottom chord of the truss, it can cause failure of the truss plate connections or separation of the top plate from the wall studs. Simpson makes brackets that go on top of the plate to prevent the truss from moving horizontally, but allow it to move vertically. The bottom chord on the truss can move due to temperature differences between the attic and the conditioned space of the building. Probably a better solution for you is to run furring strips perpendicular to the trusses and attach the plates to the furring strips. That provides enough flexibility to allow the trusses to bow up without damaging anything or cracking the drywall. As you say, the truss can also move relative to the slab, something that normally isn't an issue in a home, so you've got an extra reason to not attach the truss to the plate. Note that when you drywall the ceiling you should not put any fasteners closer than about a foot to any wall. That allows that length of drywall to act like a hinge to absorb any motion without cracking.
 
 
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