Preparing Wood Trusses for Oklahoma Wind



Designing Wood Trusses in Oklahoma for Powerful Wind

In a state with varying weather conditions minute to minute, we have to consider multiple factors when designing our trusses for your project:

  1. Enclosure type of structure
  2. Building usage
  3. Building exposure
  4. Live load


The enclosure type of the structure is important because we need to know whether we’re designing for a closed, partially open or open building. This affects the design and load considerations for our trusses. If a building is partially open or completely open, then we calculate the live load needed for our trusses in order to provide greater wind resistance and durability.

Building usage is another crucial factor for our trusses in Oklahoma. The more people expected to occupy the building, the more we consider the safety of our trusses and design to withstand greater wind drafts. Residential structures would fall into a category of greater importance and potential hazard to human life. Commercial structures fall into all categories with some not presenting any hazard to human life.

What about building exposure in Oklahoma? Exposure is a serious consideration. With much of Oklahoma being flat, wind pressures are greater, which is why Oklahoma has so much damage. If an area is flat and near a body of water, then wind pressure is high. If an area is surrounded by other structures or trees then wind pressure is reduced due to obstruction. We have to design our trusses accordingly, again for safety.

If you don’t work within the building or construction industry, then you’re probably wondering what “live load” is referring to. In short, live load refers to any load that is not of permanent nature, such as snow, wind, furniture, movable loads, etc. Since these loads don’t always affect the nature of our trusses and vary when they do, we have to design our wood trusses to handle the varying load amounts.

In Oklahoma, we have to consider the amount of live load wind will cause within a structure. We manufacture our wood trusses to be extremely durable and able to withstand major live loads caused by wind.

Need More Oklahoma Truss Information?

Don’t worry about being an expert in this industry. We’re the experts and we’re here to assist you in designing and manufacturing wood trusses for your projects in Oklahoma.

You can speak with us directly by calling our office at 580.852.3660 or you can submit specs you have to receive a quote.

We Service Oklahoma, Kansas and North Texas

Our Service Area

Timberlake Truss Works LLC