Replies

1. 
   xMikeSmith | Nov 25, 2003 05:39am | #1

   if you're extending the vaulted ceiling "seamlessly".. then the gable end truss has to go... unless it's not really a gable end truss, but rather a common truss identical to the existing scissor trusses..

   rake extensions.. facade, trim.. it all has to be broken back so the material will not look like it was added on with a zipper..

    or.. let it look like it was added on.. different level of quality..

   linear extensions are difficult to make appear seamless..

   Mike Smith   Rhode Island : Design / Build / Repair / Restore

2. 
   RalphWicklund | Nov 25, 2003 05:44am | #2

   Depends on what you have hiding behind the siding.

   Is the current gable truss a drop gable where the supports for the rake go over the top and back to the next truss or was the rake built like a ladder and just hung off the side of the building?

   Is the gable a scissors truss with ballon framing or does it have only vertical members which require a wall beneath?

   If you have a true scissor truss, even if it is a drop gable truss and it is designed to be free standing, then I think you can just remove the wall beneath it and treat it as a regular truss. The rafter extensions, if they are long enough when you pull off the rake, can bridge to the next new truss and serve as bracing along the top chord back to the older portion of the building. If they are not long enough they won't be in the way and you'll just brace as usual.

   If you have the standard vertical member gable truss you might consider removing it and reusing it as the end of your new building. However, the labor involved in recycling one truss might not be productive. Around here, taking them apart usually means destruction. You could reuse the truss lumber as bracing rather than tossing it in the dumpster. You also have a whole wall beneath the gable truss to consider recycling as part of the new end wall or as bracing.

3. 
   BossHog | Nov 25, 2003 03:54pm | #3

   There are a couple of ways to approach this.

   My first thought would be to get rid of the gable altogether and stick a scissor truss in there. But that might be kind of a pain.

   If you don't want to remove the gable, it could be left in place and have a new scissor truss nailed to it. Then cut off the parts of the gable that stick below the scissor truss.

   The siding and lookouts have to go. I can't imagine why you would want to leave them.

   I hate additions where the trusses have to plane in with an existing roof. I always tell people they have about a 50/50 shot at having them plane in well. Measure them carefully before you order new ones. Or better yet, have the truss company come out and do it.

   Money won't buy happiness, but it will pay the salary of a large research staff to study the problem.