Roof trusses are pre-fabricated, triangulated wood structures which are built in a factory and carefully designed to carry the load of a home’s roof to the outside walls. They are then shipped to the construction site and installed using a crane after the home’s walls have been framed.

Ask most builders today and they will tell you that engineered roof trusses are the only way to go and are far better than the old roof frames. The primary benefits of using pre-fabricated roof trusses are cost savings and construction speed.

The flexibility in the roof design and complexity that roof trusses enable have also made them increasingly popular. With today’s home styles, more complex roof designs, angles, cross gables and other features have added cost, which can be at least partially offset by using pre-manufactured roof trusses rather than building a roof frame on site.

The Advantages of Pre-manufactured Roof Trusses

While the basic advantages have been mentioned above, a more detailed list of the advantages of roof trusses in building a home include:

• Professional design and fabrication techniques; in conventional roof building, the carpenters build a roof frame, leaving much to chance and the builder’s opinion in terms of the roof’s strength. By comparison, a trussed roof system is designed by engineers to accommodate the specific roof design and meet building codes and enabling a more uniform size and roof pitch.
• Higher quality materials and strength; roof trusses are fabricated inside a shop, where the materials are not exposed to inclement weather or moisture conditions.
• Trusses can typically be installed in a single day, speeding the home construction process and getting the structure closed up sooner, which helps prevent moisture and other weather elements from getting inside.
• Trusses are cheaper than conventional roof framing due to labor savings and since they are built from shorter lengths of 2×4 lumber rather than the large size lumber required in building rafters and ceiling joists.
• Roof truss systems allow for almost any custom roof design and shape imaginable, allowing features such as cross gables and cathedral ceilings without being prohibitively expensive.
• Roof trusses can span much longer distances without the need for load bearing interior walls

The only real disadvantage of roof trusses is that the homeowner ends up with less usable space in the attic area; a very small price to pay!

Types of Roof Trusses Used in Building Homes

Two basic types of roof truss designs are used in home building; the pitched or common truss and the parallel chord or flat truss.

A common truss is recognizable by its triangular shape and is most often used in roof construction. Most often, variations of the common truss are named for their web configuration, such as the King Post, Fan, Fink and Howe trusses, with the chord size and web configuration typically being determined by the load, span and spacing.

A parallel chord or flat truss is so named for its parallel top and bottom chords and is often used to construct floors.

There are many roof truss types and variations including Arch Frame, Belgian, Bowstring, Dropped Chord, Gambrel, Hip Step-down, Howe, Parallel Chord, Pratt Bottom Chord, Pratt Top Chord, Raised Heel, Scissor, Semi Howe, Slope Frame and Warren.

Each type of roof truss offers pros and cons and is designed to suit specific structural and aesthetic purposes. It is important to understand the different types of roof trusses when designing a new home, doing major remodeling or a room addition. This will help match the look and function of your home’s roof to the correct roof truss type and design.

Both aesthetic and functional considerations are required in choosing the best type of truss to use for a given roof shape, size and design complexity. You will want to discuss all of these factors with your architect and roof truss engineer before ordering roof trusses for any new home or major remodeling project.

Climate is another consideration, since each type of roof truss has different characteristics that make it more or less desirable in terms of the insulation and air-vapor barrier.

We have expanded on the advantages and disadvantages of several of the major types of roof trusses:

A Raised Heel Truss is designed to span an area and provide adequate space for full depth attic insulation. While enabling greater energy efficiency, Raised Heel Trusses also enable an air tight vapor barrier to reduce problems arising due to condensation, dry rot and mold. It is also more expensive than other types of roof trusses due to the need for soffit siding, higher manufacturing cost and the additional insulation required.

A Dropped Chord Truss has two segments; a convention truss, with a secondary chord truss suspended below to help reduce truss uplift, which is when an interior ceiling may “lift upward” and result in ceiling and wall damage. A Dropped Chord truss design enables a vapor barrier and full depth attic insulation, as with a Raised Heel design. Taller studs and additional blocking and siding are required where walls and ceilings intersect in order to accommodate the air-vapor barrier, which adds to the construction cost.

A Scissor Truss also uses lower chords, but instead of being horizontal, the lower chords are sloped inward to form a shape that looks somewhat like a hang glider. Cathedral ceilings many times require Scissor Trusses and eliminate the need to use a bearing beam and wall. Insulating the attic area is more difficult with this type of truss and manufacturing costs are typically higher than other roof truss types.

A Parallel Chord Truss may also be used with cathedral ceilings, but allows for fuller and easier installation of insulation of the attic area. Because it requires steel braces and several wood products to manufacture, the cost is higher and thermal bridging caused by the steel braces can decrease energy efficiency.

Ordering Roof Trusses For Home Construction

It is very important that you specify the correct type, measurements and other factors when ordering roof trusses. Common mistakes include inaccurate specifications and failing to inspect the roof trusses when they are delivered to the construction site.

A list of the basic specification required when ordering roof trusses includes:

• Truss Span – specifies how long the bottom chord needs to be.
• Overhang Length – specifies the horizontal distance between the end of the bottom chord and the bottom edge of the top chord.
• Number of Trusses – specifies how many trusses are required. The uniform spacing of roof trusses (usually either 24 inches or 48 inches on center) makes this relatively easy to calculate.
• Design Load – specifies both the live and dead loads of the top and bottom chords, as well as wind and any other loads to which the trusses will be subjected.
• End Cut – specifies the plumb or square cut and any custom specifications
• Heel Height – specifies the vertical distance between the bottom of the bottom chord and the top of the top chord.
• Roof Slope – specifies the vertical rise in inches per each 12 inch horizontal run.
• Bearing Width – specifies the requirements for the truss bearing.
• Type of Truss – specifies the type of truss required.
• Overall Height – specifies the total vertical distance from highest point of top chord or peak to the bottom edge of the lowest bottom chord, not including the overhang.

These facilities prevent debris materials from entering gutters. You achieve the same objective, that your gutters do not get clogged and wreak havoc outdoors when rain comes. But you may be asking if investing in gutter guards and covers will give you your money’s worth.

What we must then all know is how effective gutter guards and covers are. Well, you can be assured that they do prevent relatively big debris from entering gutters. However, smaller debris may still find their way inside gutters.If this happens, clogging is only delayed but not prevented. Over time small debris materials when they accumulate inside gutters could still block water flow.

There are gutter guards and covers, however, which can really protect gutters from being clogged even by small debris. The design and workmanship of these types of gutter guards and covers are better. They however command higher prices.

When gutter guards and covers are more expensive, chances are they are more effective.  If this is the case, they can really substitute for gutter cleaning.  That frees you from the hassles of gutter cleaning.

You can devote to other household chores the time you save from gutter cleaning. More importantly, you need not climb your rooftop thus avoid possible accidents. If you have the fear of heights, you are most vulnerable to accidents when you clean gutters. Investing a little more for the more expensive ones is worth the additional cost that you may incur.

But you may also want to know if the long-term benefits can outweigh the initial cost of installing them. Again, chances are the more expensive ones are more durable. This makes them cost-effective.

But whether you install gutter guards and covers or just clean your gutters requires your careful thought. Factors you must consider include time, safety aspects and costs.

As far as time factor is concerned, you must consider if you have the time to clean gutters once or twice each year. You may be so busy that you just can’t devote time for this chore. As a regular activity, you must follow a cleaning schedule based on consistent time intervals. Otherwise, you just resort to gutter guards and covers. This is a one-time installation activity, hence, requires lesser time.

When it comes to the safety aspects of gutter cleaning, know if you’re capable of cleaning gutters. Accident-prone people or those afraid of heights should resort to gutter guard and cover installation. One wrong step while cleaning gutters may result in a severe accidental injury. You don’t want this to happen to you just to save on costs.

On cost considerations, you may resort to hiring others who would undertake gutter cleaning for you. This may be less expensive than investing in gutter guards or covers. However, you may find it hard to find gutter cleaners who are really up to the job. There is danger that hired ones won’t perform well since the house involved is not theirs anyway.

Gutter guards and covers may be expensive, especially those which really work. This, however, as compared to costs that you may incur with clogged gutters may be lesser.

Also, gutter guards and covers are even hassle-free once these are installed. This will suit you if you have a very busy schedule. Gutter guards and covers meanwhile only need regular maintenance check to ensure that these perform at optimum levels at all times.

Without gutter guards and covers, you’re always confronted with the problem of having clogged gutters. It’s quite easy to forget about your gutters until the rain comes. You then find yourself faced with all the consequences of having clogged gutters.

Often it’s already late when you realize that you should have invested in gutter guards and covers in the first place.  The costs just add up when the effects of clogged gutters occur.  So it somehow pays to invest in gutter guards and covers.  It saves you time and money in the long run. It makes you worry less.

Gutter guards and covers are just worth it, keeping your gutters free from clogging and reducing the time and effort spent cleaning your rain gutters.

You need to clear your gutters of debris materials to allow rainwater to freely pass through.

Gutters facilitate water to properly drain to the ground without making a mess of your garden. A continuous downpour of rain would cause your rooftop to overflow if its gutters are clogged.

Overflowing water will tend to go different directions in your front and backyards. The quantity and impact of overflowing water from your rooftop are what’s damaging. They may fall down on places in your garden where you least wanted them.

Should overflowing water drop straight into your front yard, your garden could get flooded. Its impact might even create hollows in your front and backyards. You garden’s landscape could get damaged as a result. The damage you may incur could be severe depending on the intensity of rainfall.

Meanwhile, waters from your rooftop may leak down through your outside walls. When this happens, your walls could be damaged especially if these are made of wood. Interior damage to drywall may also result, along with dangerous molds and dry rot.

Water leaking through walls could also damage your home’s appearance from the outside. Moist walls promote the growth of molds or algae and give your walls an awful appearance. What is worse is that leaking waters could end up in the foundations of your house.

When this occurs, the water will cause cracks or leaks within the foundations and weaken them.  Your home becomes more vulnerable to damage and destruction. An earthquake coupled by a weak foundation might even cause your home to collapse.

Clogged gutters may also cause rooftop flooding. This may corrode your roof and cause rusts to appear and destroys your roof over the long run. Water build-up in your roof may even allow mosquitoes to breed. Not only does it destroy property, clogged gutters also promote the onset of life-threatening diseases.

When it rains, clogged gutters can really make your life difficult. You may find yourself doing damage-control outside while the rain is pouring.  Just think at how you can avoid all these by simply cleaning your gutters.  Gutter cleaning, after all, is not a difficult task.

How often should you then clean your gutters? It really depends on the seasonality of where you live. The frequency of cleaning gutters must be the same as the number of seasons there are. Each season has its own share of the kind and quantity of debris that usually clog gutters.

Seasons affect how sources of debris such as trees, insects, birds and other living things behave. During Springtime, trees bear flowers and fruits which may fall down on your rooftop. Along with these are dead twigs. Birds may build their nests on your roof during Spring.

These birds after some time leave behind their nests and wastes. Insects and other living organisms are more active during springtime. They either die or leave their wastes on rooftops.

During Summer, leaves may fall on your rooftop because of storms and strong winds. In the Fall, trees shed almost all of their leaves. During Winter, ice clogs moist the rooftop.

When ice melts or when it rains, water flows down and carries all debris towards your gutters. All these debris first slow down water from draining through your gutters. In the long run, they completely block the flow of water. And you know what will happen next.

Your gutters are also prone to damage when your rooftop is full of debris. Debris materials may weigh heavily upon your gutters while clogged. With damaged gutters, water may flow out through damaged areas and go wildly in different directions. Water may even enter your house through open windows or doors.

What do you need to clean gutters? Well, you only need a ladder high enough to climb your rooftop. You may also need various household tools to get rid of the debris. These include brooms, sticks, blowers, water hoses, and other pressurized tools.

You can even just pick debris with gloved hands. Debris materials, however, may already be deep inside the gutters. If this happens, they become harder to reach. But with the use of pressurized water, you can force these materials out of the gutters.

Spending some effort in cleaning gutters translates to huge savings by preventing your home from getting damaged. All you need is time and determination.

As well as keeping the house dry, the roof contributes to the look of the house, so when building a new house, adding on, or re-roofing, it may pay to consider the options. Right now there are more options in the marketplace than ever, so choosing one is tough.

The choices range from asphalt shingles to wood shakes and clay tiles, from steel panels to rubber look-alike slate. The most important trend to note, however, is that as with home-construction materials in general, there is an increasing move towards engineered roofing materials.

This change is being driven by a few different factors. One is simply the high cost of wood. The second is that in many cases, codes now mandate the use of fireproof construction materials. And third, people understandably want to build with materials that not only look good but also are very long-lived.

The roofing material we all see the most of these days — the one that covers the roofs of a great majority of houses across America — is the standard three-tab asphalt shingle. One of the least-expensive roofing options, asphalt shingles are available in a dozen or so different colors both solid and blended.

The shingle roofing products being made today are usually guaranteed for 20, and sometimes 30 years, making them an excellent value. Value is the principal advantage of this roofing material, which explains it’s popularity.

The next upgrade from a standard three-tab is a thicker variation called an architectural shingle. These shingles are built up to be about twice as thick as a normal shingle with the layers staggered to give them a heavier, more substantial or "architectural" look. In some colors they resemble slate, and in other colors wood shakes.

For looks, it is hard to beat a wood shingle roof. Over time it weathers out to a gray or soft silver that seems to root the house to the landscape. Several species are used: Western Red Cedar, Alaskan Yellow Cedar and Eastern White Cedar.

Shingles are relatively smooth and cut to a uniform thickness, although they vary in width. Wood shakes are thicker and rougher, being split rather than sawn from the logs.

Wood roofs are meant to breathe and should be laid over a substrate that allows air to circulate behind them: skip sheathing — wood strips or battens nailed directly to the roof rafters — is the traditional method of installing a wood shingle roof. Another method of getting air circulation behind the shingles is to lay them on pressure-treated lattice.

For all their great looks, shingles and shakes are expensive to install and do require some periodic maintenance, typically in the form of washing to remove any mildew or moss, and then re-oiling with a clear wood finishing product.

Nail guns do not use individual nails. Instead, the nails are mounted in long strips (similar to a stick of staples) or in a plastic carrier coil, depending on the design of the nail gun. Some strip nailers use a clipped head so the nails can be placed closer together, which necessitates less frequent reloading.

Nail guns vary in the length and gauge (thickness) of nails they can drive.

Nail guns also have many advantages over hammers as they quickly and repeatedly drive the fastener and consistently set the nail head at, or below, the surface. Most nail guns can be set to operate in either of two modes:

In one mode, the nail gun must first be pressed against the work piece and the trigger then depressed. One nail is then fired and the trigger must be released before the next nailing cycle can commence.

In the other mode, the trigger is depressed before the nail gun is brought into contact with the work piece. Then, each time the nail gun is pressed against the work piece, a nailing cycle commences and one nail is fired. By repeatedly "bumping" the nail gun against the workpiece, any number of nails can be rapidly fired.

Nearly  37,000 people every year go to emergency rooms with injuries from nail guns. Forty percent of those injuries occur to consumers. Nail gun injuries have tripled from 1991 to 2005. A recent survey shows that foot and hand injuries are among the most common.