Replies

1. 
   George_Roberts | Jan 25, 2002 10:17pm | #1

   *
   You call up an engineer and have him design a solution. I suspect it will be expensive.

   I would suggest that you find some windows that will fit between the trusses.

1. 
   Boss_Hog | Jan 25, 2002 11:09pm | #2

   *> is there a way to connect the cut one to adjacent trusses to supprt and distribute the load?Not exactly. The chords of a truss are in either tension or compression. You can't "header that off" to adjacent trusses. Even if you could distribute this load to adjacent trusses, you've increased the load on those trusses by 50%. You can - as George suggested - get an engineer involved. It's possible to reinforce the adjacent trusses in most cases and modify the existing trusses, but it isn't simple. Each case must be looked at independently. And the fix can be prety messy. It's a heck of a lot easier to move the skylights.

1. 
   David_Cass | Jan 26, 2002 01:13am | #3

   *About a month ago I did a job, engineer designed of course, that required cutting 5 trusses. It took two men three days to manipulate all the material in such a crowded area. It was a huge pain.It was also pretty creepy plunging the saw into the trusses after hearing for 15 years that you don't cut trusses.I'd find 22.5" skylights.best, DC

1. 
   GeoffM | Jan 26, 2002 02:44am | #4

   *Thanks one and all. I've discovered that Velux do not make anything narrower than 22 1/2" in an operable skylight. Guess I'll just have to go without. Thanks again.

1. 
   jim_"crazy_legs"_blodg | Jan 26, 2002 04:19am | #5

   *I've often seen trusses wrapped with drywall running through skylight wells. Looks fine if there are 2 or 3 of them. Have you considered that approach? Maybe using a 4x4 instead of a 2x4, removing the roof sheathing and ceiling, but leaving the trusses intact?

2. 
   Jamie_Buxton_ | Jan 26, 2002 05:59am | #6

   *GeoffM -- Don't give up yet. The Velux skylights mount completely above the roof deck. If you wanted to, you could install one so that it is directly above a truss. It doesn't intrude down into the air space occupied by the truss. (Of course, if you install one like this, you'd want to build up a some headers to support the deck at the edges of the rough opening.) Velux (http://www.velux-america.com/) has a whole line of skylights intended to work with joists or trusses which are on 24" centers. They expect a 21.5" rough opening. The glass is narrower than the rough opening -- around 20" if I remember correctly. That is, if the walls of your lightwell are 20" apart -- which should fit between your trusses easily -- you'll lose no light at all. And if you need to narrow up your lightwell, you can. You'll just have a little less light. Jamie

3. 
   GeoffM | Jan 26, 2002 07:33am | #7

   *Jamie,Thanks to you and Jim. Perhaps I wasn't as clear as I could have been in my original post. The problem is that the space between the trusses is off center to the space (above a stair well) that I want to light and ventilate. Even if I allowed the truss to show it would have to be off center to the skylight since the truss itself is off center to the stairwell that is if I wanted the skylight centered in the ceiling above the stairwell. The only answer seems to be to either forgo the skylight or live with it being off center but since the stairwell is only 4'wide it would really show. Thanks to you both for the help.

4. 
   Mike_Smith | Jan 26, 2002 07:36am | #8

   *geoff... is it for light or view if it's just for light.. you could use a tubular skylight like SunTunnel.. or Roto has a model they call "Sweet 16" here's a link..http://www.roto-roofwindows.com/Products/Sweet16/SWEET16.HTMi've preferred Roto over Velux for about 20 years..

5. 
   Matthew_Steadman | Jan 26, 2002 07:47am | #9

   *I've used those tubular lights a few times. They're pretty slick.

6. 
   Jeff_J._Buck | Jan 26, 2002 07:48am | #10

   *damn you smith....ya stole my thunder......jeff

7. 
   Mike_Smith | Jan 26, 2002 07:54am | #11

   *wuz that the roto thunder .. er the SunTunnel line ?yooo hooo , jeff... pats & 5 keep hopes alive

8. 
   Rich_Beckman | Jan 26, 2002 07:57am | #12

   *> Even if I allowed the truss to show it would have to be off center to the skylight since the truss itself is off center to the stairwell that is if I wanted the skylight centered in the ceiling above the stairwellThat's just what I would do (as much as it pains me to be agreeing with that Crazy Legs fellow).Rich Beckman

9. 
   jim_"crazy_legs"_blodg | Jan 26, 2002 08:44am | #13

   *Yeah, well, have you considered shifting the stairs a few inches so they center under that truss? Kidding, just kidding.

10. 
    GeoffM | Jan 27, 2002 01:04am | #14

    *Well,now that's an idea. Let's see I'd then have to move the wall in the basement (it's a ranch with a full wall height basement access to the south, sort of like a split level) that would mean the garage gets shortened so an addition to that end of the house would have to be done, wanted a larger living room upstairs anyway. No problem! On the other hand I could move the wall on the other side which would mean cutting into a bedroom upstairs and my workshop downstairs but didn't need three bedrooms anyway and the workshop needs cleaning up. Hmmm, all kinds of possibilities, thanks Jim!

11. 
    Jeff_J._Buck | Jan 27, 2002 10:04am | #15

    *sun tunnel......go stillers.....Jeff