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Modified King Post Trusses can be used when more visual height is desired. We used this style truss in the Hawthorn Suites Lobby in Burlington, VT, shown on the image to the left. |
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Another image of a modified king post truss used in a great room for a custom home. The curved webs add a nice touch. |
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To the left is a 3d view of a modified king post truss. |
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Click in the image to to the left to see an isometric of the truss, or click on the link above to open a 3d,rotatable .pdf. The pdf requires Adobe Reader 9. The tips written at the bottom of the .pdf are helpful. |
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Scissor Trusses are a bit more expensive, but give some height in the middle of the room. Scissor trusses to spread a little when they are loaded. They act like the leaf springs on a truck. As snow piles up on the roof, the truss will squat down and spread out from wall to wall. We try to keep truss deflections to less than half an inch, so they really don’t matter much for the interior finishes. |
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Scissor trusses showcased on our site include Saint Catherine’s Church, and the First Presbyterian Church in Navasota Texas. |
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A favorite truss is a Traditional Hammer Beam Roof Truss. Its design comes from the old style cathedrals in Europe and the United States. It is beautiful with its graceful center arch, but like the cathedrals, it needs to be buttressed on the outside or by other parts of the building. |
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The Breed Residence also uses a classic hammer beam truss in the living room. Its loads are transferred to surrounding walls and roofs. The Breed Pool House uses a modified hammer beam design (discussed below) and carries all of its loads internally. |
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Modified Hammer Beam Trusses have a great look with their open design and arched webs and braces. No buttressing is required. A center king post is used in the truss’s interior and a collar tie is placed about half way down the truss giving a great open cathedral look. Graceful arched braces run from the collar tie down to hammer posts, and lower braces run from the hammer tie down to an outside post . |
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Modified trusses shown on this site were used at Trapp Family Lodge and The Breed Pool House.
Click in the image to to the left to see an isometric of the truss, or click on the link above to open a 3d,rotatable .pdf. The pdf requires Adobe Reader 9. The tips written at the bottom of the .pdf are helpful. |
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King Post Roof Trusses are the most cost effective, and they look great when curved braces and webs are used. A king post truss solves many structural problems as well. Its bottom chord acts as a ‘tie’ for the room, holding the walls from spreading. |
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In the South a king post roof truss may be able span 36 feet with 16 foot spacing, where the same truss in a snow belt up north may only be able to span 24 feet with the same spacing. We size all of our truss members for the exact region where they are being installed and we provide detailed shop drawings with a structural engineer’s stamp. |
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Heavy Timber Girder Truss
This heavy timber truss, shown with galvanized steel gusset plates, is used where a flat truss is required. Often, sloping trusses or rafters would be placed on top of it. |
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Queen Post Roof Trusses are very similar in design to king post trusses except that the interior of the truss has two vertical ‘queen posts’ instead of one central ‘king post’. They look great and offer an open area in the middle of the truss. Queen post timber trusses can easily span 30 feet or more when they are spaced around 12 feet apart. |
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48' Truss with Steel Tie
This is a great looking modified scissor truss that we used in Wakenah Indoor Swimming Pool . It is both decorative and structural using heavy timber with traditional and steel joinery. |
| Trusses with steel tie rods, like the one shown below, are used when an open feel is desired, but the loads are too great to economically use a cathedral truss like a hammer beam or scissor truss. Immaculate Conception Church is one example and Wakenah Pool House is another where steel tie rods were used in the roof trusses. In both cases the roof truss spanned over 40 feet in cold, snowy regions. Spreading is resolved through a relatively thin steel tie rod used in the center of the truss at plate level. A tie rod is also a great thing to use when trying to make residential trusses more economical. All our trusses are custom designed then shipped as kits. |
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A beautiful truss using heavy timber and a steel tie rod to span over 40'. The graceful arches and dark stain add a wonderful look to this church ceiling. |
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Hand Hewn Timber Truss with Steel Tie Rod
A decorative ceiling truss for a residence. Hand hewn white pine. |
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Hand Hewn Timber Truss
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A double chorded octagon truss spanning 80'. Heavy timber beams were joined with steel gusset plates. |
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Timber Frame Church Truss
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Hammer Beam Truss
An elegant truss to dress up a timber framed home's great room. The turned finials add a nice interior design touch. |
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A douglas fir heavy timber truss for large indoor pool building. |
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One of the simplest and most economical heavy timber trusses. |
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