What is the safest way to remove a section of a roof truss to box out for skylight installation? The 24″ skylight was installed by someone else. It is not centered over the 16″ O.C. truss, and I do not want to sacrifice the added light. I don’t want my roof to cave in either! Any advice would be welcomed. Thanks.
CCR
Boone, NC
Replies
Talk to your building inspector. You would need to cut one of the trusses, which is a no-no. How is it installed now? Did they just move the truss over? I don't see a problem with that, seeing as your trusses are 16" OC. What did you want to do, move it?
This was a retrofit, or unfit, that was installed with a new roof with absolutely no regard as to what it would take to finish. Moving the truss is not an option. I thought about installing trimmers and moving a section of the truss, but I can't visualize a way to do this without the roof or atleast the drywall ceiling moving. I guess I'll work around it, stain it to match, and hang a freakin' plant from it! Thanks.
You absolutely cannot cut the truss. Styart with that as the foundation for whatever else you do.
IMO, it was some **** who decided to put this skylight in that space. It's not unlike finding that you have four different size tires on your car and asking how can you get a smooth ride.
Assuming this is a finished house, you can only replace the skylight with one that fits 16"OC. IF unfinished, you could spend a day or two moving the truss over and added some cripple lumber and sisters.
...days that try men's souls....
Excellence is its own reward!
I agree with the description of the idiot who installed this skylight. It was put in with a new roof before I moved in. If it was atleast centered over the space I could work with it. My concern is that it will look pretty ghetto if I just trim it out from the edges of the skylight and leave the truss in the center, even though it is nice yellow pine and could be stained to match the trim. Thanks for the help.
You can't cut the truss. You can move the skylight, or you can leave the truss flying through the light well. If you put a horizontal translucent panel at the ceiling level, you'll still get most of the light, but you won't be looking up at the truss.
I like that option. thanks
Check out this thread:
Cutting trusses for skylights
Despite my thirty years of research into the feminine soul, I have not been able to answer... the great question that has never been answered:
What does a woman want? [Sigmund Freud]
Despite my thirty years of research into the feminine soul, I have not been able to answer... the great question that has never been answered: What does a woman want? [Sigmund Freud]
they want the exact opposite of what ever you suggest, regardless if it is really what they wanted in the first place.
they want equality and chiverly at the same time,
they want a rich, good looking, kind, caring, sensitive, honest man who isn't concerned with what they look like, can put with mood changes on the turn of a hat :)
when they ask if they are fat, ugly, hows the dress look, new hair cut
your answers must be no, no, very stunning, beautiful (this kinda throws the honesty thing out the window)
Come on ladies tell I'm right?
Never be afraid to try something new. Remember, amateurs built the ark, Professional build the Titanic.
You hire someone who knows what they are doing.
Yes, you can cut the truss.
Yes, you can transfer the load around the light well.
I agree, in theory. I bet the pocket book and time run out before the theory reaches practicality though.
After you hire an engineer and spend a couple of days in the hot attic slinging lumber, braces and plates as far as you can see (with only the aid of flashlights and drop lights) <g>
You might consider removing the wrong skylite for the job,and replacing it with one(or more if you have the room)that is made for your truss layout.
Sell the other one at garage sale or with ad in paper.
I believe you will be glad you did.
Contradictory advice there, G
Someone who knows what he is doing will do the following:
A. Pick his jaw back up off the floor after seeing what the jerk did installing it like this.
B. Advise replacing the skylight with one the right size.
C. Write an estimate to do the same.
D. When the HO mentions that some guy named George on the web said she could cut the truss and reframe around it, he says, "Well then, let George do it" on his way out the door,
Because while it can be done, why try to make a Corvette drive like a one ton GMC van? .
Excellence is its own reward!
Re trusses, I'm a structural engineer, but I won't figure field cutting. I've only cut a truss when the truss plant made a mistake and it was too big to go on the burn pile.
piffin ---
The fellows situation is:
The skylight is installed and the roof truss is already cut.
He wants the large skylight.
The fact that you have no information about the loading on the roof or the design of the roof, puts your advice in the dumpster.
Determining if the skylight is installed properly or not requires an onsite visit. Engineering a repair requires an onsite visit. (Or I might have offered one.)
At no point in this conversation has he said that the truss is already cut. As a matter of fact, he specifically complained that it impaired the view and flow of light by being still in place under the skylight and ugly because it is not centered.
Start with the facts, then proceed with your opinions..
Excellence is its own reward!
As of my last post, the truss had not been cut. As of right now, it has been cut. The skylight was installed with a new metal roof by an outside party. Installing a skylight that fit the truss space would have been ideal, but with the wrong skylight already installed and with a tight budget, it wasn't an option. I boxed around the truss, but just couldn't deal with having it in the middle of my skylight. I took everything apart , and scratched my head again. The one thing I knew I couldn't do was call an engineer. The trusses rest on a center beam about 4' from the new opening. I cut a 2x6 that would span 3 trusses to either side and face nailed it it the tops of the bottom chord of the trusses. I then tripled up three more 2x6's and placed them on edge on top of my 2x6 base. I cut a stud to fit under the top chord, and two that were installed on either side that went to the decking. I repeated the process on the other end of the opening, stared at it awhile, and then went to the truss with the sawzall. The result is very solid, and there is nothing obstructing my new view except an 1/8" of pollen. Thanks for all the advice.
oh this is going to get goodNever be afraid to try something new. Remember, amateurs built the ark, Professional build the Titanic.
what's done is done.
Excellence is its own reward!
what's done is done
Yeah but it wasn't done, and some guy comes here for advice and goes against everything he was told, Where is his sign??
Never be afraid to try something new. Remember, amateurs built the ark, Professional build the Titanic.
Looks like I'm headin' for the frying pan, discussion style. I like the quote about not being afraid to try something new. Time will tell if it was the right thing to do here. I'm quite confident.
"The one thing I knew I couldn't do was call an engineer"
Why? No sense trying to do it right, when you can do it fast and cheap.
Just exactly why is it that after something like 8 people told you NOT to cut the truss, you did anyway ??? Makes me wonder if it's worth the trouble to offer free advice here to idiots like you.
Adding 2X6s that spread out the load isn't acceptable. The other trusses weren't designed for the added loads. The top and bottom chords of the cut truss were in compression and tension. You did nothing to resolve this.
The bearing wall you mention doesn't help the truss unless the trusses were designed to sit on it in the first place.
Did you read the thread I referenced on cutting skylights?
Can you tell I'm annoyed?Too bad stupidity isn't painful.
Thanks Boss you said what I did not have the never to.
I am sure that with the vague details of the structure itself that I have supplied, I am looking pretty stupid to all of you experts. Perhaps I was looking more for reassurance than advice. This is a small cabin (650 sq. ft.). The entire house and the 2x6 trusses were built by the same guy who installed the wrong freakin' skylight. There was no engineering involved at any stage, so to call one in now would probably do nothing for me except allow me to find another place to live. The trusses were designed to rest on the bearing wall. With 2x6 trusses spaced 16 o.c., and 3' from the bearing wall to the first cut and 3' from the second cut to the outside wall, this modification, while sounding stupid in a chatroom, is very stout in reality. Sorry to waste some of your anger, although it sounds like you have plenty to go around.
Actually, I'm generally pretty mellow. Ask anyone around here.
What ticked me off was that you wasted everyone's time then ignored our advice.
You say you were "looking more for reassurance" and everyone told you not to do it. But you do it anyway.
If you're gonna ignore everyone's advice, don't ask in the first place.Some mornings, it's just not worth chewing through the leather straps.
Well Boss, you win some you lose some.
I for one have learned a great deal from the advice you've given on the subject.
Havn't cut any trusses either. Still haven't repaired the ones the pros who built the house cut, but one day I'll tackle it. Hard to come up with the bucks to get a pro to come out to the house and design a fix. But, as you've just seen, some amatuers know more then the pros anyway.
I'm sure with the 32' span in my house doing what this guy did would likely cause roof failure (2x4 trusses on 2' centers). But, in a small house w/ 2x6 trusses on 16" centers he'll probably not have any failures. Of course I'd expect the roof to flex more which could cause his skylight seal to fail. Probably during the worst and longest rainstorm in the history of his state. (Does that mental picture make you feel better?)
Later
Billy
Even though I ignored most of it, the advice and expertise gained was much appreciated. And for the skeptics (most if not all of you), my recliner will be placed directly under one of the skylights. I'll keep you posted on the chinese water torture.
What's done is done so I'm not here to argue the point any further buit maybe we can mend some fences.
Boss is dead right with his advice about consulting engineers and not cutting trusses, but maybe he doesn't need to clobber you for not listening. You can lead a horse to water...
maybe CAG was right when he said it's going to get good from here on, but for different reasons than he thought. It now appears to me that this may not have been a truss in the first place, but more of a stick built system since it is @ 16" OC, site built with no engineering, and employs a bearing wall interior. You may be OK on your repair, but no-one with good sense and this limited information will certify it and pat you on the back from here. But I get less bothered by redistributing loads from stick construction than by interrupting trusses designed for a specific application.
Where I would be concerned though is that the same fellow did all this work did other things on your cabin. Hacks don't usually just stop at messing up one thing. They make a regular practice of ruining structures. You might want to take a good look around. See what's under that rocking chair before you place it under the skylight.
;).
Excellence is its own reward!
Point well taken. This particular truss system was site built, and never engineered. It is however beefy. So I fully deserve the firing squad treatment that I received, due the the information I gave you guys. Had this been anyone else's house, I would have installed the right skylight for the space, re-roofed it, and proceeded with the trim. The budget was tight here, that was a major factor. It's never an excuse to do a job wrong, which did not occur here either. I'm new to the forum, but not the trade. I thought I was poking at a pinata, but it turned out to be a hornet's nest. I make a living in the footstep's of hack builders, and my own house is no exception. I had to replace the better part of the floor system last summer. So my recliner has a solid footing. And I need no back pats. Thanks!
Enjoy your view of the stars. Last time I checked, the sky is not falling..
Excellence is its own reward!
" maybe he doesn't need to clobber you for not listening."
FWIW - I wasn't ticked off that he cut the truss. What ticked me off was the fact that he'd already made up his mind to do it, and was looking for "reassurance".
The fact that he withheld so much info didn't help either. That which does not kill me still hurts an awful lot.
That's always a problem here, the lack of good info to base the advice on. I can get any answer I want by controlling the input.
just do what we can ...can't make him drink.
Excellence is its own reward!
I've run into more than one customer who called rafters, trusses. You crawl up in the attic and see nothing but rafters. It throws you for a loop because it is so easy to assume the customer knows the difference. This guy's cabin is stick built even if some yahoo put gussets and webs on them and called them trusses.
Dumb luck strikes again......
John Svenson, Builder, Remodeler, NE Ohio (Formerly posted as JRS)
Where I come from ...
If there is a bottom chord below a skylight and the skylight is in then the top chord has been cut.
But I could be wrong.
He didn't out right state the trust wasn't cut until much later, but the if you read the post carefully you can see that the sky light is in, and the truss was running through it.
He wanted to remove the wood that was running through the sky light, so it was there before he cut it out.Never be afraid to try something new. Remember, amateurs built the ark, Professional build the Titanic.
It is intresting that on one asked about snow load. Here trusses are 24 on center never have seen 16. So where is this house Vail Co? Well the truss is cut it is cut .
But in the future if anyone else runs into this, one could run sheet rock on both sides of the truss leaving it an 1/8-1/4" shy of the glass. Caulk the gap, sheet rock the bottom of the truss then it would like two skylites side by side no truss cutting no replacing skylites no reroofing. If the sky lite are wood framed like velux you can add wood on both side of the sheeted rocked truss to match the wood frame. About $20.00 in materials and 4-8 hours time. assuming it is a flat glass lite not a bubble.
Edited 5/15/2003 12:38:18 AM ET by wally
Sorry meant to post my pervious to all>
Wally, that sounds like the best cleverest idea I've seen on this one yet. Would look good if done right too. I always like it when someone thinks outside the box like that. Ok, inside the skylight box, but you know what I mean.
Like your idea, add gloss paint to the SR for light relection.
Put in a sky light deliberatly like that. Money saver and some different astectics.
That is what I was thinking of a money saver put a 48 inch lite across two 24 inch truss the way I described. One lite, one flashing kit, verses two lites, two flashing kits and one gang flashing kit, plus less time one hole same end effect.
If anyone does what I suggested in a retro fit be sure not to cut the top cord of the center truss when putting it in.
The sky isn't the limit.
Why stop at a 48". Just about anything to fit 16 oc. Trim the exposed truss with #2 pine or something excotic for that matter. Make the exposed segments of the truss(s) apear to be timber framed.
Your idea will be incorperated some where, some time. Thanks.
Velux is the most widely used and copied skylight. It sits above the sheathing so there is no need to have cut the truss or framing to install it.
Box built skylights on site are the same way.
I've not yet seen a skylight that sits down into the attic space like you describe after more than thirty years of roofing and handling thousands of skylights.
Excellence is its own reward!
Now that the situation is better explained, I can see why we all had such a problem with this.
"Truss," to most all of us readers and posters, means an engineered product, assembled usually from 2x4 machine-stressed lumber and metal truss plates. A trussed roof or floor frame is engineered as a complete structural system, by a professional.
"Skylight," once again to most of us, means a factory-made roof window, complete with curb, and usually having its own compatible perimeter flashing.
This job had neither. I think the only way for any of us to have been able to offer advice and assistance, was to have been better informed of the problem by means of either a good set of sketches or drawings, or photographs.
Without that, or any good description, we were all just babbling.
Let's wish him well, and get on with things. (I agree with Boss, though.)
Well said.
In the passt month or so, I find myself asking more often for clarifications from questioners before I answer their question..
Excellence is its own reward!
You can probably buy a cpl of new velux skylights that will fit in between your 16" trusses for cheaper than what it will cost to modify your trusses, or consult an engineer.
ya i have to agree that the truss can be cut although what needs to be added to support it should be engineered but if you can think of a way to transfer the load by using sheer paneling, additional stuctural members, and framing clips and then get a structural engineer to sign off on it you can save the expense of an architect or engineer coming up with the idea. it does sound like the truss is not yet cut. is it more work to replace the skylight or re-engineer the truss is the question