Minimum Distance Between Roof Trusses

For low pitch roofs building codes may require larger dimension rafters.

Minimum distance between roof trusses.

For instance if your roof has a steep pitch you may be able to use 2 inch by 4 inch rafters but if your roof has a low pitch building code may require that you used 2 inch by 6 inch or 2 inch by 8 inch rafters. These steel joints are needed to support the overall truss. You will also incur additional costs because it is much harder to deck and shingle a roof that is 12 12 pitch versus a 4 12 roof. This is the distance between trusses.

Half of that distance is referred to as the run. The same thing is true for the bridge of the truss. To determine how many trusses to create you will first need to measure both the width and the length of the structure you are building. Determining the correct roof truss spacing as well as the correct materials and how to build your roof trusses will be largely if not completely dependent on the weather that you can expect to receive in your part of the world.

The more complex the truss framework is the greater quantity of these joints will be required. Follow this guide to ensure the spacing and stability of your diy roof trusses. The steeper the roof the more expensive the trusses get because the longer the boards get and the more roof area increases. Flat the most economical flat truss for a roof is provided when the depth of the truss in inches is approximately equal to 7 of the span in inches.

One goal of truss design is to build a roof structure that is as strong as necessary but that uses the minimum amount of lumber. Although the standard spacing of roof trusses may be the same as that of rafters with 24 inch spacing being a common option the design of a truss may allow for the use of a lower grade of lumber than would be. The run forms the base of a right angled triangle with the height that is equal to the rise of the roof. The rafters of the truss will be used as the hypotenuse highest part of the triangle.

The standard roof truss spacing is 2. Difference in slope between the top and bottom chords is at least 3 12 or the bottom chord pitch is no more than half the top chord pitch.