You might remenmber I posted a little about a house I’m fixing up for the HO , and the inspector has a laundry list of stuff. One item was a cut truss in the garage roof at the pull-down stair. I finally got to look at it…sure enough there’s a piece missing. Simple gable roof, about 6/12, no snow load, and the trusses are what I would call W-shape. The stair unit runs parallel to the trusses, but what they did (apparently back when the garage was built according to the HO) was to cut out one of the web pieces so you could get better access to the attic area. Question…how serious is this? The garage is 27 years old and there’s no signs of any problems. The attic area is pretty cramped, so it’s not practical to use for much storage.
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Well the rule is "Do not cut or alter in any way".
I have had trusses that were delivered with broken webs and top and bottom cords.Usually don't notice it until your landing or spreading them!
Needed an engineers OK and drawing submitted to building dept ,and their OK on proprer way to repair.Truss Co. paid the bill but still pain in the butt.
So it seems to me that a broken or cut truss IS a serious thing.
Will yours compromise the integrity of the roof? I doubt it.But someone has made an issue of it so it will need attention now.
I would attach lumber ,of like demention as the web, to both sides of the cut web extending past the gussets,top and bottom.This should satisfy the Home Inspector,I don't know about the Building Inspector.Luck
Just exactly how serious it is could be debated forever. Sometimes cutting trusses doesn't do much, sometimes it does.
You mention the roof isn't subject to snow loads. But is still could be subject to live loads from construction such as re-roofing.
Don't know if you read a while back in a thread where I talked about roofers stacking a bunch of shingles along the ridge of an old house, and the roof collapsed. So it's still possible to get enough load up there to do some damage.
Personally, I'd leave it up to the homeowner to decide. If it were mine, I'd fix it. (But what would you expect?)
Smith & Wesson the original point and click interface.