Does a trussed roof need load bearing walls?
Brian Carlson
kitchen. My house has pre-fab W trusses (rather than old fashioned
joist and rafter), should those trusses be strong enough to support
the roof and ceiling without a load bearing wall? I guess the span
matters here, or are the trusses automatically strong enough for thief
span?
Brian
jiva
If you're talking about an intermediate wall the bottom of the truss usually
floats over it and does not use it for support.
"Goodbye" said the fox to the Little Prince. "And now here is my secret,
a very simple secret: It is only with the heart that one can rightly see,
what is essential is invisible to the eye"
jim bilderback -- please remove the * if you'd care to email.
Hamm4fun
>>I'm considering knocking out the wall between my living room and
>>kitchen. My house has pre-fab W trusses (rather than old fashioned
>>joist and rafter), should those trusses be strong enough to support
>>the roof and ceiling without a load bearing wall? I guess the span
>>matters here, or are the trusses automatically strong enough for thief
>>span?
>>
>If you're talking about an intermediate wall the bottom of the truss usually
>floats over it and does not use it for support.
>
>
>"Goodbye" said the fox to the Little Prince. "And now here is my secret,
> a very simple secret: It is only with the heart that one can rightly see,
> what is essential is invisible to the eye"
>
>jim bilderback -- please remove the * if you'd care to email.
>
>
>
>
>
>
It still could require the wall. One of the ideas behind using a truss is to
get a strong stucture using the minimal amount of material. The existing
supporting wall could have been a design factor when the truss was enginneered.
The trusses on my father-in-law's house was designed to span the full width of
the house even though there were walls that could be load bearing. There were
also some small areas that the house was open all the way across. There was
eventually some sag in these areas that caused the sheetrock ceilng to crack.
The fix was easy enough. We bridged the unsupported rafters with the ones
nearby that was supported by a center wall and patched the ceiling. I dont't
think ther would have been a problem If the span was all open or all of it had
the benifit of the central supporting wall. It was mixing the two that cracked
the ceiling.
J Pagona
>I'm considering knocking out the wall between my living room and
>kitchen. My house has pre-fab W trusses (rather than old fashioned
>joist and rafter), should those trusses be strong enough to support
>the roof and ceiling without a load bearing wall? I guess the span
>matters here, or are the trusses automatically strong enough for thief
>span?
>
>Brian
>
Brian,
It could be a load bearing wall, or it might not be. One way to tell would be
to cut out a small square of drywall at the top of the wall. If the wall has a
double top plate then it almost certainly is a bearing wall.
Jay Pagona
Idwim
trusses is cost savings through ease of roof construction. You loose the
upstairs space. They should be designed to span the whole width, but
they also could have been engineered to have a load bearing wall. Go up
in the attic and find where the wall you want to remove hits the ceiling.
See if you have a hole in it where you can see if it is a double top
plate. If so, it is probably load bearing. Also check under the house
for the transfer of weight to the foundation via piers or something. If
you are on a slab, never mind. If you can't tell from upstairs, you
might locate a stud then trace it to the ceiling. Move away from the stud
and using a small nail see if you have one or two top plates. One is 1.5
inches and two is 3 inches. If you have a load bearing wall, you might
consider installing a temporary wall on each side to carry the weight.
Then cut the wall out about a foot from the ceiling. Then install a
header to carry the weight. Put king and cripple studs down to carry the
weight. Then sheetrock over. Now you have an arch to open the rooms up.
Brian Carlson
I'll check if the wall has a double top plate or not.
The only supports underneath the house are where the floor joists from
each side are supported at the joint in the middle. This joint and
the piers under it don't directly coincide with the wall in question,
but it is pretty close (within 4 feet)
My original plan assumed that the wall was load bearing. I had planned
to put a counter in part of the open space with a column on each end
supporting a header... But it would be much nicer if I could do away
with the columns and header.
I'm going to also try to track down and interview the original builder
and try to find plans or some way to get the specs for the trusses.
Brian
Daniel R. Hicks
>
> I'm considering knocking out the wall between my living room and
> kitchen. My house has pre-fab W trusses (rather than old fashioned
> joist and rafter), should those trusses be strong enough to support
> the roof and ceiling without a load bearing wall? I guess the span
> matters here, or are the trusses automatically strong enough for thief
> span?
What others have said. Plus, if the span is relatively short (under 25
feet or so), then most likely the trusses don't require a center
support. If you made a drawing of one of the trusses and took it to a
place where they sell them, they would probably be able to tell you if
it requires center support.
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Dave & Connie
bearing wall.
Brian Carlson wrote:
> Thanks everyone for the input.
>
> I'll check if the wall has a double top plate or not.
> The only supports underneath the house are where the floor joists from
> each side are supported at the joint in the middle. This joint and
> the piers under it don't directly coincide with the wall in question,
> but it is pretty close (within 4 feet)
>
> My original plan assumed that the wall was load bearing. I had planned
> to put a counter in part of the open space with a column on each end
> supporting a header... But it would be much nicer if I could do away
> with the columns and header.
>
> I'm going to also try to track down and interview the original builder
> and try to find plans or some way to get the specs for the trusses.
>
> Brian
>
> >Brian Carlson wrote:
> >
> >> I'm considering knocking out the wall between my living room and
> >> kitchen. My house has pre-fab W trusses (rather than old fashioned
> >> joist and rafter), should those trusses be strong enough to support
> >> the roof and ceiling without a load bearing wall? I guess the span
> >> matters here, or are the trusses automatically strong enough for thief
> >> span?
> >>
> >> Brian
> >