Hoping the Boss checks in …
I need to come up with a plan for an “open plan” house, and was thinking about starting with a core area of a large open space with smaller rooms off the sides. Maybe something on the idea of a 30 x 40 ft room, all clear span. They want some exposed beams, so I’m thinking about scissors trusses with fake beams applied every 4 ft. Other than that, I have no clue what I’m doing 🙂
Whenever you are asked if you can do a job, tell’em “Certainly, I can!” Then get busy and find out how to do it. T. Roosevelt
Replies
I can help with that.....I don't know what I'm doing either :)
Seriously, I have used scissor trusses in a similar manner. The trusses were for a cathedral in one room and a foyer, slightly offset from each other. Adjacent rooms were 8' ceilings and the scissor trusses overlapped then and a hallway. I just added 2x6 joist below the scissor truss to continue the plane of the common trusses where needed.
I ran the plans past the truss manufacture b/f I started the project. They acctually wanted to do a half scissor and common truss for those areas, but those 4 or 5 special trusses cost double a standard scissors truss, so I opted for sticking the flat ceiling rooms and hallway.
BTW the free span for those scissors was 42' I think the roof was a 6/12 and the cathedral was a 4 1/2 :12.
Be interested in what Boss advises.
Dave
"BTW the free span for those scissors was 42' I think the roof was a 6/12 and the cathedral was a 4 1/2 :12."
I suspect the bottom chord pitch was 3.5/12 at that span. If they were 6/12 over 4.5/12 that would only be about 6° between the top and bottom chords.
I try to stay with around 9° difference.Q: Why are there so many Smiths in the phone book? A: They all have phones.
Yer probably right. After 13-14 yrs., and CRS, I was just taking a WAG.
Dave
Not sure exactly what you're looking for, but I'll give it a shot.
A 30' scissor truss is an everyday thing - No big deal at all.
Don't know what pitch you're considering, but - The rule of thumb is that the inside pitch is about half the outside pitch. You can mess around with that to some degree, but that's a starting point.
The fake beams won't really have any affect on the scissor trusses.
If ya wanna talk aesthetics, ya need to ask someone else. That's not my area of expertise. But I think you should consider the ceiling height as it relates to the size of the room. A room that big would sure look funny if it only had an 8' flat ceiling.
I'm not sure who he is, but I've heard he's got his hand in a lot of things. [Kermit The Frog, regarding Jim Henson]
I wanted to be sure that I wasn't planning on a special size truss. I had heard once that the slope diff should be at least three, so if the shingles are 8/12 then the ceiling needs to be no more than 5/12.
The main room, with the scissors trusses, would not have a flat ceiling at all. The idea is to get a roomy feeling ... stone fireplace in the middle dividing the space, lots of windows, etc. The rest of the house would be 9 ft ceilings.
Whenever you are asked if you can do a job, tell'em "Certainly, I can!" Then get busy and find out how to do it. T. Roosevelt
Everything you're planning sounds pretty reasonable and normal. The 8/12 over 5/12 should work fine.If you can't say something funny about someone, don't say anything at all.
there wa also a mention of false beams, depending on shat they are made of and the weight of them , can that effect the truss design ??
Just asking ?
Unless the false beams are huge solid pieces of timber they wouldn't be enough weight to matter.Q: What's the difference between a good lawyer and a bad lawyer?A: A bad lawyer can let a case drag out for several years. A good lawyer can make it last even longer.