roof trusses

[rationalizer]

I agree that it is important to work with the inspectors - I called him "finicky" but he isn't unreasonable (I worked with him when building the house) In fact - the only reason that I'm waiting to start is that I want to make sure that he is "on board" before I commit real resources. He approved the plans we submitted - marked up the pages etc. and said "good to go". He didn't put any mark-ups on the truss page... My builder & I said "hmm - does he understand what we are doing....?" So my builder got back in touch, explained that I would be building the trusses, and the inspector said "well - I STRONGLY urge you to get an engineer to sign off" (He didn't say "can't do that"). So - I now have a signed/PE stamped truss analysis from Barnplans.com. Assuming the inspector buys off on this I'll be good to go. If not - I'll go to plan B with a local truss builder.

Wish me luck!

Bill

 

[Gary_in_Indiana]

It sure sounds to me like you're on the right track. You probably won't have any problems since you involved him early on. Good luck with this. /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

 

[phantom309]

Here's a dumb question: Are you guys _required_ to
get an OK from a building inspector?

Where I live (West Texas), if it's not in the city, then no
need for permits, inspections, etc. Feel free to throw up
the biggest POS that you can dream up!

I guess the downside is that if it collapses and hurts
somebody, there is certain to be a legal side of winging
it on your own....

I'm taking my chances. I am modeling my trusses after
a company that makes theirs "to city code" and am in
fact overengineering their design. But I'll not be
soliciting any outside opinions on the barn. Who knows,
maybe the tax appriaser won't notice the change for a few
years since I'm not giving them a heads up!

Best,

Mark

 

[Bird]

Mark, it's the same way here in Central Texas. The electric company (co-op) provides the meter base and instructions for the pole, weather head, ground rod, wiring between the top of the pole and the meter, etc., then they send a man out to inspect that before they hook up the electricity. From the meter on, it's whatever you want to do. A permit is required for a septic system, along with an inspection before backfilling. But for your other projects, you're on your own. When we built my brother's house, he drew his own blueprints and took them, along with a copy of his resume, to a bank in town and they promptly approved a construction loan, which they then rolled over into a conventional loan upon completion (and this was a bank with which he'd never done business since he hadn't yet moved to this area). And as far as we know, there was never any inspection done by anyone. However, with my brothers' past experience as homebuilders in Alaska and a general contractor's license in the state of Washington, I think he was experienced enough to know what the codes are and think we built it so it would pass code in town. He said at the time that he wanted it that way for himself, and that he might have to pass an inspection if he ever sold it, and sure enough he sold it this past Spring after the buyer hired an inspector to examine everything.

 

[rationalizer]

Mark,

Its a "little" more regulated where I live (only about 7 miles from Ann Arbor - but I think it is consistent in most of SE Michigan) Here we have to file a request for permit, get that signed off, then they inspect the foundation, and then a final sign off (I have no electricity or plumbing in the barn - so I'm guessing that if I did they would be inspected as well - they were on the house) The inspector rules - he made my neighbors "move" their pole barn after they had already set the poles...because they changed the rules for barn placement relative to house lines AFTER the plans had been approved... It can be frustrating - but it does mean the structures are robust. Still - my standards are usually higher than the inspectors - its just a matter of getting the signature that can be frustrating... Of course my neighbors are using a semi trailer to store hay for their horses...so there are "gaps".

Bill

 

[chim]

Just thought I'd mention something I read in an article on roof failures in one of the in-law's farming magazines. This was a few Winters ago, when there had been problems with snow.

There was some importance attached to supporting the truss only where it was designed to be supported. They had some pictures of structures where the owner was "doing the truss a favor" by running vertical supports to the trusses at approx. midspan in a building. There was an explanation that the trusses were designed to NOT be supported there, and the farmer actually weakened the trusses by doing so.

There was an example of how to make a sliding connection so that walls could be tied to the trusses, but the trusses would be free to move vertically.................chim

 

[centex]

Where I am at in rural Burnet county you have to have the septic permit and inspections but in some counties in Texas even this is not required if you build on greater than 10 acres. One of my friends built on 12 acres in Smith county just outside of Tyler. He did his own septic system with no permits or inspections required but they don't have the rocky soil that channels all runoff into streams and lakes like we do in Burnet county. A building permit is required in Burnet county for improvements so the Tax Appraiser knows to increase your taxes but no inspections are required. Of course if you finance or sell the lack of inspections could be a big problem.

 

[Bird]

Yep, Don, 7 years ago no permit or anything else required in Navarro County if you had 10 acres or more in accordance with state law (have you ever seen the state statute? It's a big thick book that's about like trying to read War and Peace). I can't say for sure, but I think Navarro County is now requiring the permit regardless of property size. And also when my brother and I had our systems installed, the permit fee was $10, but 2 or 3 years ago the county commissioners decided to raise that fee a little bit; to $400 (talk about inflation!/w3tcompact/icons/shocked.gif).

 

[Chillimau]

Midwest Plan Service has some magazine size books on trusses. Gives loads for roof and ceiling and a diagram of the truss. What to use for the top, bottom cords and for the struts. Also has specs for different species of lumber. They use the plywood gussets. Dad and I repaired some 40's with plywood gussets before we set them. I'm building some steel 50' footers for a shop building. I agree metal is a very time consuming process, cutting, grinding, welding, painting.

Gary

 

[Ozarker]

Thanks. That is a great web site with lots of different books on various construction topics.

Here is a link for everyone else:

<A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.bae.umn.edu/extens/mwps/index.html>http://www.bae.umn.edu/extens/mwps/index.html</A>