Replies

1. 
   CaseyR_ | Jun 06, 2001 04:09am | #1

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   There is a web site that sells plans for gambrel roofed barns and shop buildings that use trusses at:
   http://www.barnplans.com/trusses.html

   If you want to design it yourself, there is book listed on amazon.com:
   Metal Plate Connected Wood Truss Handbook by Edward W. Callahan $78
   there is also an out of print book listed with a title something like "Truss Design Simplified" and another called "Truss Fun" which uses the design of trusses to teach mathematics (fun???).

   There is also the woodtruss website that lists a book called (or at least did some months ago when I checked on it...):
   METAL PLATE CONNECTED WOOD TRUSS HANDBOOK - SECOND EDITION: $39.95(member)/$44.95/$59.95 (non-member price)
   click on: COMMENTARY FOR PERMANENT BRACING OF METAL PLATE CONNECTED WOOD TRUSSES at
   http://www.woodtruss.com/wtca/wtcaindex.html

   JLC bookstore has a book listed that says it covers the framing of gambrel roofs, but I don't know if it covers trusses:
   http://www.jlconline.com/bookstore/books/framing/rf483.html

   The following sites discuss some aspects of truss design, but I don't know if it gives you enough info to build one:
   http://www.alpeng.com/ALPINE/desginfo.htm
   http://www.umass.edu/bmatwt/metal.html

   If you want to use light guage steel framing, you might try the free demo design software that is supposed to be on this site to see if the demo gives you enough info to build from:
   http://www.jfba.com/

   Have fun...

2. 
   Backyard_Builder | Jun 06, 2001 04:09am | #2

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   I'm doing a 13' X 25' backyard shop/storage structure, and have looked at the idea of Gambreling the roof with trusses. As the name implies, not a lot of experience in construction. (Plenty Books, Plenty Ideas, Not much Hands On.) The last building I did (12' by 12', 2" by 6" joists 16' O.C. on poured piers, walls framed 16" O.C., standard stud height, top plates, and enough strong ties to cut every finger) was for a water pressure tank plus laundry room. I designed king trusses for a 12' foot span. Easy with what I was able to find in print. Basically the sources said you could frame with sound 2" by 4"s all the way out to 20' using a simple king post pattern with no fears. I used 1/2" CDX plywood gussets (no glue) and the stubby high shear nails (No snow load!). It is a rock! No bounce, no wobble. The current project was going to be gambreled, but I can find NOTHING on design of true gambrel trusses. Most of the garage/small barn plans are really king or queen trusses atop standard stud height walls, with exterior skirts added to give them a lower visual profile. Because of code limitations, I can't do that. I've settled on the idea of a Modified Queen Scissors truss set. The question is: Books? Sources? URL's? I'm not spooked by the span or the mechanics (13' feet isn't much), but I want to do it right. In response to the obvious, if I bought them from a truss yard or paid for a design, I'd be a Backyard Checkwriter! No sense of mastery in that! I've got two grown sons and two compound miter saws warmed up and ready, and no design resources. Any ideas? Thanks, BB