Roof trusses are engineered components. When damaged or altered this can effect structural integrity of the roof system. Localized damage to one or two trusses will typically not result in structural failure of the roof system, but could cause the roof or
Roof trusses are engineered components. When damaged or altered this can effect structural integrity of the roof system. Localized damage to one or two trusses will typically not result in structural failure of the roof system, but could cause the roof or ceiling to sag. In residential construction this can also be a problem when selling a house because home inspectors often find damaged or roof trusses.
Because trusses are engineered components, typical building codes specify that repairs or alterations must be designed by a registered design professional. In most cases that would be a Licensed Professional Engineer with experience in designing repairs or alterations to trusses.
Typical wood roof trusses consists of numbers members-called chords and webs-that are connected together with metal plates. Relatively small metal teeth protrude from the plates and the plates are pressed into the wood members using thousands of pounds of force for each joint. It is tempting to look at these plates and assume that a few nails would do the same job, but that is not the case. It takes many nails to equal the capacity of a typical connector plate. When using nails to joint truss members it is also necessary to use lumber, plywood, or Oriented Strand Board (OSB) to join the members. Sometim