I had Menards give me a price of $43.00 for a 4″ x 2″, 11-1/4 deep wood web truss 18′ long. My local lumber yard quoted $79.00 each for the same thing. I double checked with both to make sure they were quoting the same thing and can’t come up with any differences.
Is there an appreciable difference in floor trusses that could create such a price difference, or is this the difference between big box buying power vs. the local little guy?
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Replies
I'd suggest going to a full 12" deep truss to span 18'. Shouldn't cost but a dollar or 2 additional.
The $43 price seems a lower than what I've seen for 10 years.I suspect it was for an I-joist, in spite of what they told you.
The $79 price sounds high. But this is Canadian dollars, right? I don't know what the exchange rate is, but that may be the difference.
If you take the $79 price, and reduce it some for the difference in US/Canadian dollars, it would come pretty close to the $60 to $65 price I would expect to see for an 18' floor truss.
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Truss companies don't give the big boxes price breaks. (At least none that I've ever heard of) If anything, they sell them at a higher price, or avoid selling to them altogether. Dealing with them is nothing but a headache.
No on the I-joists. These are defintely wood-web floor joists. Just to be sure, I called another Menards store about 25 minutes from my local Menards and they quoted the same price.BTW, I am in NW Indiana so we are talking US dollars but I did mis-type the price, it is $48 each. Seems like an awfully good deal.I'll take your advice and move up to the 12" joists, thanks.
Sorry - I was thinking you were in Canada for some reason. Even at $48, the price seems cheap. But who knows - Every truss plant prices things differently. That doesn't really explain the higher price, though. But that might have been a math error or something like that.
Laugh alone and the world thinks you're an idiot.
There was an article somewhere last year about the patent being up on wood I-joists, so that anyone with a million bucks can start their own plant now. They projected that the competition might be bringing prices down soon.I was also confused by the openning title for trusses when he is talking about I-joists.
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"I was also confused by the openning title for trusses when he is talking about I-joists."
Back in post #3 he said "No on the I-joists. These are defintely wood-web floor joists."
I have no reason not to take that at face value...
Don't worry, it only seems kinky the first time.
missed that - maybe Menards is quoting Ijoists and the other outfit is quoting open web trusses.
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I just returned from Menards, concerned that they were in fact misquoting me. The quote is in fact correct - 4x2, 12" x 18' wood web floor trusses with trimmable ends, made at a place in Wisconsin exclusively for Menards. So far as I can tell this is an apples to apples quote as the local lumber yard is quoting the same size trusses, albeit from a different manufacturer.Typically I try to stay away from the big boxes for our renovation project, preferring to buy from the locally owned and more knowledgeable lumber yard. But unless there is something inferior with the Menard's trusses, I can't pass up the bargain.
Menards has their own truss plant.
Also, check the spacing. With their trusses, I believe the farther you span, the tighter your spacing is. With 18' you may be 16" oc with theirs.
The lumber yard could have quoted you 24" or 19.2" oc.
Ditto on going a little bit deeper.
They gave me 24" OC at 55" PSF total loads and 19.2" with 65 PSF total loads. My engineer figured the load at 55. I am likely to go with the 19.2" OC since this room will eventually serve as a kitchen and we expect lots of folks in the kitchen at any given time. I may even go with 16" OC since I plan on adding a wood drop ceiling to the bottom cord. This will serve as a ceiling in my basement office.
Do both prices include delivery? Just a thought...
Matt
I forgot to mention deflection. For a floor, code is L/360. You're going to want a minimum of L/480. I don't have a Menards flyer handy, but the numbers they gave you could be based on L/360.
You mention a future kitchen. Do you see a tile floor in this kitchen. Some people suggest you go up to L/600 for a tile floor. If you did go with tile, you could end up with more than 55 psf, depending on the type of tile.
Another area that is an after thought is in floor heating. If you were to go with a system that is set in gypcrete/lightweight conc., that would be extra loading.
Now is the time to guess if these things may be in the kitchen's future.
No tile in the kitchen. We're looking to put down some nice long hardwood boards to replace the 100 year oak that's in the room now. Unfortunately, the existing floor is too far gone to redo.As for heating, we plan on using the new forced air furnace that currently heats the house and this space. One of the reasons I like the trusses vs. the i-joists is the ease with which mechanicals can be run. Should make running new duct work much easier. Interestingly enough, I am running radiant heat in the new slab in the basement below this space. I hadn'yt thought about the deflection rating for these joists. Might push me into that 16" OC after all.
Better to beef up the trusses and keep it at 19.2". Take 3.5" away from 16" oc and you only have 12.5" to swivel your head around it - no elbow room to work those mechanicals
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