Only in Texas, Don and Harv doing

[Inspector507]

Don, we were occupied yesterday and I'm off to placing railing today. I'll give you answers tonight.

Yesterday's fun.

That can't be Harv.........where's the red T-shirt?

 

[txdon]

I decided it was time to get back to work after having to rescue my equipment twice in one day. The first was when my trail mower (Farmall A) got too close to the edge of the dam and then along with some big ant beds and the inability to hold the line I quickly shut her down before the point of no return. The next was just a stuck golf cart in the sand on the bank of a pond I had opened up to let the spring flow. (See Rescueme Collage).

On the building I started by making tree stands and cradles on the metal I had Left over. This will serve to temporarily hold the ridge beam while I construct the rafters. The height of the ridge beam from the top plate is 51 inches. This is a bit taller than originally planned but it looks good.

 

[wroughtn_harv]

That's a heckuva pitch Don for central Texas. ;>)

In other parts of TBN land I'm sure it's not much but in the southland, but it will look good.

There will be 3 purlins, one at the top one midway and one at the wall.

The rafters will be made by attaching at the midway to lower part with a purlin and "V" purlin supports.

Are 3 purlins longways connecting the rafters sufficient?

One purlin will be running on top of the top plate. Another purlin will be running about eight to ten inches from the peak. That leaves you about five feet between purlins if you run in between the two purlins.

Even with that steep of a pitch I'd have concerns about where to place my feet when walking on the roof. And it is much easier to install the roof sheets from on top. So I recommend one more purlin. That would leave you thirty nine to forty inches between purlins. You would be plenty comfortable walking on the roof.

Should there be a purlin attaching the front poles, or will the first rafter be sufficient?

What height should the ridge pole be above the top of the wall?

The end rafters should have purlins attached at a right angle for the end sheets. So your end rafters will be four inches inside the outside wall line.

Here's a picture of the end rafter assembly that we used at the horse barn.

Using the right angle brackets we added supports from the top plate to the rafters on the ends.

 

[EddieWalker]

One purlin will be running on top of the top plate. Another purlin will be running about eight to ten inches from the peak.

Harvey,

Not sure if I'm reading this right. Are you saying to put a purlin at the very peak of the truss? There's no harm in doing so that I'm aware of, but it seams like a waste of material and time to put on in a location where there is no purpose or need for it.

Don,

Where are you getting your roofing material from?

I like Muellers allot, but that's just my preference. I've worked with a few others as well and none have come close to them for price, service or quality.

You will need to know your pitch when ordering your roof caps and trim. Have you measured what your pitch is? Using hole numbers when building makes it allot easier to fit it all together and order materials. Lets say you have it at what looks nice, but when you measur it , you find out it's a 5.37:12 pitch. This is a very awkward number when a 5:12 pitch would be simple math.

Tow ways to build your truss's. In place, which is the hardest way, or on a flat surface and then put them into place. If I can, I like to build them first, then install them as one unit.

Are you going to vent the enclosed area? Roof vents handle heat about as good as anything, but for a small area, I'd put two wall vents on the peaks of your walls. One on each side to give some cross ventilation.

From what I know, you never want your purlins more than four feet apart. Just like Harvey said, it makes it hard to walk on. The roof will also flex more the further apart the purlins are. Closer together means a stronger roof.

This brings up the length of your roofing material. You don't want it touching at the peak, but to leave a few inches of space between the two sides, then cover it with your peak caps. The ends can end flush with your wall, or hang over a bit to bring water out past your wall and into your gutters. I like mine to hang over an inch.

Eddie

 

[wroughtn_harv]

Harvey,

Not sure if I'm reading this right. Are you saying to put a purlin at the very peak of the truss? There's no harm in doing so that I'm aware of, but it seams like a waste of material and time to put on in a location where there is no purpose or need for it.

Here's a picture of what I'm talking about Eddie. There's a purlin on each side of the peak.

 

[wroughtn_harv]

Tow ways to build your truss's. In place, which is the hardest way, or on a flat surface and then put them into place. If I can, I like to build them first, then install them as one unit.

I agree with you on stick building.

But this is bracket building.

One of the reasons I've pursued this system and tried to work out all the bugs and then applied for a patent on the system is bracket building makes trusses a snap.

If you look at the above posted picture you will notice the pipe runs length of the peak. The pipe holds the brackets which accept purlins as rafters to the top plate. No figuring pitch except for ridge cap. The pitch is decided by the location of the pipe. That pipe or combination of pipes, or ridges if you will, determine the pitch.

Again, no cuts beyone ninety degrees because the brackets remove all the figuring.

When I was designing this system one of the things I had to deal with is trusses and roof pitches are probably the most intimidating aspects of building a structure for the amateur. I was able to take away all the calculations about run, rise, and degrees of cut for the seat and peak with a simple bracket.

All the builder has to do is what Don has done. He's decided where he wants his peak and that's all there is to it, truss is designed.

I recommend Don put a purlin eight to ten inches down from the peak on each side. This gives more metal and framing for attaching the roofing sheet and the ridge cap.

His rafter length will be something about eleven or so feet, I don't want to do the math right now. The rafter will end at the edge the top plate. That cut can be figured out with a plumb (level) on one rafter and that one used for a pattern or they can all be placed wild and cut afterwards.

One of the features of the bracket is the rafter length doesn't have to be dead on. There's about two inches maximum of fudge built in to the bracket-purlin attachment.

Again, no more than four feet between purlins (purlins run between rafters, rafters run between the top plate and the peak or ridge).

The purlin above the top plate will be perpendicular to the rafter and will not protrude beyond the top plate. That purlin will be attached to the top plate via self tapping screws coming in from underneath the top plate into the purlin.

I recommend two inches of overhang beyond the siding sheets. So allow one and a quarter inches for siding if Don is using R panels. I also recommend about six inches of gap between the peak and end of roofing sheet if using ridge caps. Four inches if ridge roll is used.

I see ridge roll as a false economy for my installations. When I add the cost of the foam blocks that's required with ridge roll versus the cost of ridge cap it's almost a wash. Plus ridge cap will attach to the purlin through the roof sheets and the ridge roll is attached to just the ribs on the roofing sheet.

Let's say Don's rafters are eleven feet from the outer edge of the top plate to a good overlap on the bracket. It works out that measurement is a good one for the roofing sheet when we consider three and a half inches overhang beyond the top plate and eight inches or so down from the peak.

Now if Don isn't going to use gutters then I recommend six inches of overhang to insure getting the water away from the siding. When I refer to gutters I'm not referring to box store or seamless gutters. I'm talking about the gutters that are provided from the steel sheeting supplier. It's a good system works with the steel panels. Other gutter systems require additonal modifications and work that offer potential problems down the road.

If you look at this picture you will see I use a piece of purlin as a brace between the rafters. This reinforces the truss principles of the rafter system using the brackets.

 

[EddieWalker]

Harvey,

Thanks for taking the time to explain it to me. I like the idea of a bracket that simplifies building roofs. The metal thing is alien to me and I find it to be very interesting to see the diferent steps and methods that go into it.

Eddie

 

[wroughtn_harv]

Harvey,

Thanks for taking the time to explain it to me. I like the idea of a bracket that simplifies building roofs. The metal thing is alien to me and I find it to be very interesting to see the diferent steps and methods that go into it.

Eddie

This thing has been fun for me Eddie. I've sat down with a calculator and a framing square along with the little blue book that comes with speed squares and gone crazy trying to frame roofs. I've also taken that system and used it for building metal roof framing.

If there's anything about this system that makes me proud it's the simplification of doing roof framing on simple stuff like barns and garages.

BTW we're talking with some people about licensing our idea. That takes me out of the loop, but I'll be compensated. : > )

 

[txdon]

Eddie, I was baffled when you said that the rafters would be harder to build in the air. I'm glad Harvey explained it to you. It is so simple. This will be my first gabled roof, so I really do not know what I'm doing, but it is doing well. The simple roof framing is what attracted me to this method of building. There are no angles to figure and all cuts are right angles. One good metal saw, one drill, one person 95% of the time is all that is needed. All of the structure members are easy to carry. Since I have never skinned or trimmed a metal building I keep trying to figure out the unknown steps ahead. I'm depending on Harvey to guide me through the steps. It is kind of like a puzzle; every piece of steel that goes up defines the building a bit more.

Harvey I'm trying to figure out the end gable. I saw the picture and saw the open side out, 4" from the end, and the purlin at a right angle. Do you have a picture of how the right angle purlin is attached too the end rafter? I was thinking it is just screwed in and resting on the inside lip. Is that correct?

 

[wroughtn_harv]

Ideally Don the end rafter will be lined up with the inside of the top plate. That will enable you to screw through the rafter into a purlin that lines up with the wall framing. Then if you want you can put in a couple of vertical supports from the top plate to the gable purlin attached to the rafter.

I'm back to working at the place in Josephine where we have the horse barn. I'll try to take some pictures today of some stuff that might help.

BTW, what you've done so far is fantastic.