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In May 2007, SBC Magazine highlighted the uniquely curved trusses used for the “keeping room” of a custom home in Cherry Hills Village, Colorado.
SBCA’s Truss Technician Training (TTT), along with many other industry-specific training programs, are moving to a new and improved online learning management system (LMS).
Learn more about the National Framers Council (NFC), Cold-Formed Steel Council (CFSC), Truss Industry Business Council (TIBC) and the Equipment Council.
A career in component manufacturing offers a “combination of tech and building something with your hands,” says Steve Szymanski of Drexel Truss Systems in Little Chute, Wisconsin.
I recently talked with Gene Frogale (Allied Systems) and Jack Dermer (American Truss Systems) about their experiences at the International Builders Show (IBS) in January.
Integrating sprinkler systems into the open webbed configuration of metal plate connected wood trusses can be easy when following best practices. Truss construction can be manipulated with adjustments to panel lengths and web configurations to accommodate most special requirements. However, the Truss Designer needs to account for the additional weight of the sprinkler system and water. Additionally, construction loads encountered during installation need to be accounted for.
Field splicing is a method used to connect two or more truss sections into a single component. There are many reasons why field splicing may be used. A component may be too large or deep to manufacture, fit on a truck, or handle. A design modification or retrofit may necessitate a field splice, whether due to a change in truss profile or loading. Whatever the reason, field splices are another way to allow for greater flexibility in truss manufacturing, shipping and installation.
- Field splices provide a means of connecting two truss sections together creatively at the jobsite, to allow manufacturing, shipping and installation greater flexibility in serving customer needs.
- A field-spliced truss should be designed as one component so that the proper load transfers at the splice.
- Correct installation is important to avoid increased deflection of the field-spliced truss and potential long-term serviceability problems.
- The Building Designer providing accurate wall or beam/header information in the Construction Documents is essential in order for the Truss Designer to arrive at the correct bearing width.
- There are two key bearing related considerations—bearing capacity of the truss and bearing capacity of what the truss is sitting on; often, the bearing capacity of this material is an unknown and an assumption must be made.
- The options for dealing with insufficient bearing need to be considered and specifically dealt with on a case-by-case basis.
Apparently, the secret to surviving 50 years in the truss business is to begin by selling lumber, and then working your way into it. Heart Truss & Engineering in Lansing, MI, and Littfin Lumber (Truss) Company in Winsted, MN, are both celebrating half a century of success this year, and they share some common characteristics: one, they both hail from Midwestern states; two, their founders all started by selling lumber and building materials; and three, they all resisted the urge to expand beyond their means.
This Research Report will look specifically at the sill plate requirements according to the 2009, 2012, and 2015 International Residential Code (IRC) and International Building Code (IBC) and clarify if a sill plate is required in the following conditions:
- Flat truss bottom chord bearing on ICF wall.
- Flat truss top chord bearing on ICF wall.
- Roof truss bearing on ICF wall.
- The 2012 IRC does not provide sufficient details on how to connect wood trusses to braced wall panels.
- SBCA has developed a couple of details and will continue to develop standard details that provide code-compliant connections between roof/floor trusses and braced wall panels.
- Component manufacturers can provide framers with specialty or standardized blocking panel products to reduce the time needed to install the blocking between trusses for these connections.
Since I was 14 years old, I just wanted to own my own business. In 1986, I was selling lumber in Texas when the economy collapsed. With the market tanking, they laid off half of the employees. I was fortunate, I was pushed back down to retail sales but I wanted to get back into outside sales. The company’s truss plant began to struggle and I was asked to sell trusses. I said yes, despite not knowing what a truss was, and I have never looked back from there.
- Before a new truss designer designs their first truss, it’s a good idea to have technicians work as a helper on a truss production team.
- Understand the personal characteristics, education and knowledge of your plant personnel because often talent is there that is unexplored and unrealized.
- Training a new designer is an ongoing process that takes time. When you have good designers trained, you will want to do everything you can to keep them employed with you.
I first started pursuing a college engineering degree, but had to leave due to some family emergencies. In 1982, I started selling lumber and trusses for 84 Lumber and then with a local lumberyard a year later in my home area of Portage, Indiana. When construction tanked in the early 1980’s, I moved my family to Florida near my wife’s family. I decided to use more of my background from college and found a job in 1985 estimating floor and roof trusses for WD Lumber & Truss in the Tampa Bay area.
In case you ever needed a picture to define the importance of diagonal bracing in the context of lateral restraint (i.e., top chord purlins as well), these photos of long span trusses say it all.
Tim Carter, founder of Ask the Builder, shows the simple value proposition of the attic trusses used to create a “bonus room” in what traditionally is wood webs, insulation and dead air. He explains that roof trusses were invented in the 1950's and revolutionized the way roofs are framed. Another benefit Tim points out is that today's modern computer software allows for just about any size or shape to be built using roof trusses.
A fire endurance rating may be mandated by code for many of the applications where trusses could be used in floor/ceiling, roof/ceiling or in attic separation applications. This Research Report discusses 5 different methods for determining fire resistance.
Join SBCA staff and SBCA marketing committee member, Jess Lohse, President of Rocky Mountain Truss, to learn more about bestwaytoframe.com and how you can use it to promote components within your market.
Jess Lohse (Rocky Mountain Truss) returns again this month to provide a component manufacturer's perspective on the contents of the new March issue. We hope you enjoy it as much as he seemed to!
This presentation will address the requirements of the 2009, 2012 and 2015 International Residential Code (IRC) and International Energy Conservation Code (IECC) as they impact ceiling insulation and truss heel heights.
To download the full presentation, choose a link below.
This presentation seeks to explain how to correctly apply live loads to the bottom chord of trusses for uninhabitable attics in accordance with IRC Table R301.5 and IBC Table 1607.1 and ASCE 7-10 Table 4-1.
To download the full presentation, choose a link below.
Join Justin Donecker from Engineered Truss Systems, Inc. and TJ Jerke from SBCA staff as they dive into effective methods for developing your company’s social media presence.
SBCA makes Structural Details available to architects, engineers, contractors, designers, code enforcement officials and others involved in construction applications using metal plate connected wood trusses (MPCWT).
This report discusses ways of increasing the energy efficiency requirements of the building envelope within the context of the requirements of the 2009, 2012 and 2015 International Residential Code (IRC) and IECC for ceiling insulation and truss heel heights.
Roof trusses collapsed Saturday at a partially rebuilt Mobil gas station in Liberty, seriously injuring the property's owner and leaving a worker trapped for more than an hour, police said.
It’s the end of an era for the structural building components industry. Richard Brown, former President of Truss Systems (Oxford, GA), retired May 31. The industry sends its best wishes to a “true Southern gentleman.”
If you are interested in promoting your roof truss packages to builders and general contractors (GCs) who still rely on their framing crews to stick-frame a raftered roof, here are some tools you can use to begin that discussion.