I finally bought a house in Cave Country! W00T!!!

[markmud]

Sweet!

What do you plan on doing in your "barn style shed"? Way to nice to store hay and feed...

congrats,
mm

 

[The Chairman]

Then came the interesting part: the gambrel roof. I've never built an edifice before, much less trusses. With that in mind, we relied on the plans we got to build this thing, with a couple of modifications, in order to get this far. The plans called for 22.5 degree cuts, but we wanted to add a center ridge board that would add stability lengthwise. They didn't give us exact dimensions, so I resorted to Google and found Octagon Layout Calculator. It told me that each element had to be 6' 1 1/2". Since the middle was going to be 3/4" shorter, I used Pythagoras' theorem to figure that the top element had to be 1 1/16" shorter. Whew! Thank goodness for Geometry! That wasn't the only problem. We have to attach these half trusses to both the floor and the center board, so we started to look for clips and didn't find anything we liked. However, we did find something close, that required a single bend to make them work, so I bent 112 of them...

The improvised break

Before on top, after on the bottom

112 of them make three steel roses
​

Then I had to make the plywood plates that would hold the 2x6 elements together. I ripped 17/32" plywood into 18"x9" rectangles, Tuned up the miter saw to cut the top and the band saw to cut the bottom. It was really nice to have the band saw finally set up to do production work. This is my first one, and i really liked the results.

I really wanted the cutting to be precise on the 2"x6"s, so I made jigs. Well, one jig and two spacers. The board was placed into the jig which allowed me to put a 22.5 degree cut on the very end. Then the board was flipped, a spacer put in and the next cut sized it perfectly. The element was put onto the table and then I cut the second element in the same manner, only inserting the 1 1/16" spacer when I made the final cut. I checked dimension often and they held through for all 56 half trusses...

Jig with spacer

Assembly jig on table

Plate on both members

Half trusses ready to go!

​

 

[The Chairman]

I find it hard to climb ladders. My knees just hate it. So, Dan and I built a couple of temp ladder/stairs to get on and off the lofts as we put this roof together.

​

Then I made four jigs to hold the ridge boards at the right height. You can see the ridge boards in the previous picture with all the clips I bent installed. We also ran the same decking plywood, 8" wide, along the sides between the two lofts to keep the geometry of the roof consistent. Here's where we are at the moment...

​

We still have to put on the end trusses and then we'll begin drying it all in. So far, I'm happy with the way she looks. The ridge board is nice and level and everything looks pretty consistent and even.

 

[markmud]

I find it hard to climb ladders. My knees just hate it. So, Dan and I built a couple of temp ladder/stairs to get on and off the lofts as we put this roof together.

View attachment 510253
​

Then I made four jigs to hold the ridge boards at the right height. You can see the ridge boards in the previous picture with all the clips I bent installed. We also ran the same decking plywood, 8" wide, along the sides between the two lofts to keep the geometry of the roof consistent. Here's where we are at the moment...

View attachment 510254
​

We still have to put on the end trusses and then we'll begin drying it all in. So far, I'm happy with the way she looks. The ridge board is nice and level and everything looks pretty consistent and even.

Damn man, you should have PMed me! I was a roof framing contractor. I know roof framing and associated mathematical factors by wrote. I know the engineering by heart. It would have been fun!

Are you going to add collar ties to your crown trusses (not trusses by definition)? Please say yes!

cheers,
mm

 

[The Chairman]

Sweet!

What do you plan on doing in your "barn style shed"? Way to nice to store hay and feed...

congrats,
mm

It will be used as a classroom, for storage and as a photo/filming studio. We'll be adding AC, a small bathroom as well as a bed in the loft. We often run out of room here with all the visitors. We'll have two windows on the west side and a center one on the east (you're looking west in the last photo). I don't have any animals, save three cats, so there's no need to house hay or feed. I do have a pole barn I call the "Ag Shed" which houses my tractor, zero turn mower and anything I need to landscape.

I've learned a lot building this structure. As I pointed out, I've never done this before, so I've made a number of mistakes and have corrected most of them.

Are you going to add collar ties to your crown trusses (not trusses by definition)? Please say yes!

Of course! Uh, just what is a "collar tie"???

 

[markmud]

A collar tie is a horizontal member that attaches the rafter to its opposing rafter directly under the ridge that keeps your ridge from dropping under load and your walls from spreading outward under the same static or dynamic loads (aka live and dead loads).

Ceiling joists do the same thing, but much lower in the system (your roof does not use ceiling joists).

m

 

[The Chairman]

Damn man, you should have PMed me! I was a roof framing contractor.

There's so much talent on this forum!!! I certainly wish I had. We are adding cross braces underneath the ridge board and hurricane straps on every joint: floor to element, element to element and over the ridge. Then 9 hurricane straps will be run over the entire structure before we put the roof on.

 

[The Chairman]

A collar tie is a horizontal member that attaches the rafter to its opposing rafter directly under the ridge that keeps your ridge from dropping under load and your walls from spreading outward under the same static or dynamic loads (aka live and dead loads).

Dayum! I just cut all those yesterday and they are the next elements to be installed next weekend. They aren't in the plans, but it just seemed right to have them. FWIW, we kept the roof to 16" on center to match the walls rather than the traditional 24".

 

[markmud]

There's so much talent on this forum!!! I certainly wish I had. We are adding cross braces underneath the ridge board and hurricane straps on every joint: floor to element, element to element and over the ridge. Then 9 hurricane straps will be run over the entire structure before we put the roof on.

I am very happy now!!!!

m

 

[The Chairman]

I am very happy now!!!!

m

I will pass that on to @Moose. We've been sweating every detail on this!