Replies

1. 
   calvin | May 30, 2010 11:07am | #1

   Morgan

    A little more information to flesh out your answers.

   16 oc "trusses"-trusses, not rafters right?

   If 16'' centers, how's the overhang 24"?  It may project 24'' but the framing centers are still 16', no?

   thanks.

1. 
   morgan1 | May 30, 2010 11:34am | #3

   Roof trusses

   The house is a (cabin style house) and the roof  is fabed. with 2x12s on 16" centers with a LVL ridge beam. There were no prefabed trusses used. I edited my post to explain more was was done. Sorry for the confusion

2. 
   florida | May 30, 2010 11:31am | #2

   How do you buy 'reject"

   How do you buy 'reject" lumber? Did the Amish guys make the trusses or were they designed and made by a truss plant?  Why is there a ridge beam if trusses were used?  Is there a set of plans and if there is who drew them? Did the Amish framers build to the plans?

3. 
   Matt | May 30, 2010 01:09pm | #4

   Welcome to construction...

   7/16" sheathing on 16" centers is fine unless you have quite a snow load.  7/16" is also routinely used on 24" centers although admittedly it isn't the best.  All of the national builders do it though.  Wasn't the roof sheathing thickness specified on a section in the house plans?  The sheathing should have probably been spaced slightly but I don't think it is a sure thing that you will have problems.  It depends on moisture conditions.  On 24" OC trussed roofs the plywood clips space the long edges of the sheathing, but in reality roof sheathing is rarely spaced at the butt ends of the sheets the way most mfgs recommend - I believe.  BTW - if the roof is not a perfect plane it shows more if you use cheap 3 tab shingles.  Laminated "architectural" shingles do a pretty good job of hiding these issues. 

   Re the 3/4" gaps at the plumb cut at the tops of the rafters - yea - that sounds really cheesy.  Could maybe be fixed via some type of Simpson hangers although if you say they scabbed 2x? material to the side of the rafters it will probably be OK if the BI will accept it - although I really don't understand your explanation of the present fix.  Re the 24" overhangs - are you talking about at the eaves and gable rakes or what?  The way we do it here, the siding guys add blocking for nailing at the overhangs so some additional strength is gained there.  If it is the gable ends you are worried about the lookout blocking can be tide back to the 2nd common rafter - the idea being that notches are cut into the gable end rafter (not the fly rafter), or the gable end can be dropped to allow for this blocking to be tied back in.  Let me know if you want more info on that, although that needs to be done before the roof is sheathed.  Again though, this is normally specified in the plan.  If it is the eave overhangs that are soft, is the sub-fasica on yet?

   Re the quality of the lumber, the stuff we get these days is pretty 'rough'.  For example, probably 20 percent of the studs are what I call uglys and not usable as studs.  I've seen studs wit bark on 3 of the 4 corners inidcating that they were cit from ~5" trees!!!  The lumber comity market is very unstable right now - we just saw like a 10% increase in prices in April, and the quality is all over the map but generally quite poor.  Really though, the lumber quality problem falls on the carpenters, and some time spent in culling material results in a house that doesn't suffer noticeably in quality.  For example a twisted rafter can make sheathing application difficult but doesn't really effect the end product.  I mean it's called rough framing...  If you felt that the regular stuff wasn't going to be adequate you should have budgeted several more $thousand depending on the size of the house and specified a higher grade.

   I'm confused about something though...  Were the Amish people you hired framers or a regular turn key builder - and the same applies to the new "builder" you hired.

4. 
   junkhound | May 30, 2010 01:17pm | #5

   Took the low bid, Huh??

   7/16 rated 16/24 is just fine for your roof.  Spacing not needed for plywood.

   Crapola, if ya gonna be critical of a low bid workmanship, next time DIY (or finish this job yurself.)

   Heck, I "offered suggestions" once too often to the archy on a project at our church so he quit,  so guess who got to finish the design AND do all the building as a donation <G>   (BTW, did a $300K bid job for under $10K (all donated labor)

   Moral**:  Pay big bucks to someone with a good rep. ,  DIY, or  at least shut your whining trap when it comes time to complain when ya take the low bid? 

   **The above is Typical newbie breakin - we used to say welcome, but this place aint what it used to be..........

1. 
   calvin | May 30, 2010 01:45pm | #6

   we used to say welcome, but this place aint what it used to be.

   jeezus Art,

   Go suck down a couple shots or get laid or something.  You're disposition is horrible.

   thanks.

5. 
   JeffyT | May 30, 2010 04:23pm | #7

   now that you've fired them

   first of all, saying that you had the house framed by the amish is not unlike saying that you had the presbyterians do it.  Whether they were amish or not don't have squat to do with how well they build.  some are great, others less so, just like methodists and catholics and hindus

   (i guess i shouldn't go that far, i don't have any hindu subcontractors - they  may all be top notch, as far as i know)

   now to the house. 

   as others have said, the basic specs are pretty standard and would cause no problems that i can see.  Is the fascia board installed?  if not, of course the overhangs are going to be floppy since the sheeting has no support in that area.  let them finish their work. 

   The roof will not buckle because of lack of spacing.  It's a theoretically valid concern but in actual fact the sheets would have to be cut short to accomplish that since both OSB and plywood are fully 96" long.  I know no builders who end-space their sheathing on either roof or walls. 

   The rafter - to - ridge connection does sound sloppy, so you've got a valid concern there.  I'd say call your boys back, ask them to finish the work, point out the concern you have with the workmanship at the ridge and have them correct their error there.   Scabbing to the side of the rafter with an extension would work, I think.  It may also work to install shims into that space itself and then metal rafter hangers from simpson.   I'm not sure it would actually be better than scabbing on, but it would be neater (and take longer to do, if you want to penalize them some) 

   How in the ----- did you manage a no contract, no deposit build?   Do you have an agreement on the rate at all?  If so, ask them to fix the ridge problem within the original price. 

   happy construction season

   j

6. 
   DanH | May 30, 2010 04:23pm | #8

   I would say re the gaps at the ridge beam that you should replace them, use hangers, or at least work wedges into the joints, so that there is something to bear on.

   "Nominal half inch" (ie, 7/16" with a rusty mike) sheathing is pretty much the standard in most parts of the country, and is adequate if it's decent stuff.  It will feel pretty flimsy on the tails, which is one reason why it's good to have a subfascia that the edge bears on.

7. 
   Piffin | May 30, 2010 06:39pm | #9

   home fraimed by the Amish who supposedly have excellent workmans

   Bought into the mythology about the Amish eh?

   This is a business deal, not a religious experience. Check references and use specs and contracts next time.