How To Finish An Attic With Trusses

If you re finishing your attic insulating it to the proper r value can cause a dramatic loss of headroom if you limit yourself to fiberglass batts.

How to finish an attic with trusses.

The resulting truss will automatically extend out to the eaves. Ironically though it s the rafters that provide a better environment for an attic conversion because of the clear space. The role of the horizontal beam is to tie the truss together and carry the load that would otherwise be sustained by the support and vertical timber also known as the king post. Your attic is not suitable for storage because the bottom member of a typical truss referred to as a cord is not designed to support a storage load not because of truss movement.

To create an attic truss select build framing roof truss from the menu then click and drag a line that is perpendicular to the ceiling break lines and runs from exterior wall to exterior wall. Attic floors are made with floor joists or with truss members. Attic trusses have a rectangular shape inside each truss. If the roof slope is steeper than 9 inches in 12 inches of run it doesn t take much width to end up with a nice room 12 feet wide with an 8 foot ceiling.

I have this above my own garage. Trusses are like big structural triangles that have angled top pieces that serve as rafters horizontal pieces that serve as floor joists and interconnecting web pieces that give the triangle strength. Attic conversions are now possible by replacing the truss rafters with a shaped trusses or horizontal beams which in return create additional space. The rooms in the attic trusses depend on the length of the truss and the pitch or steepness of the roof.

Newer truss framed roofs are made with prefabricated trusses. The conditions necessary to produce attic trusses are now in place. This framing style typically provides the most open space in an attic. It s safer to use a crane for all.

If your attic joists won t bear the weight necessary to finish out a living space but the engineer cleared them to support floor decking for light storage you can install inch plywood or. Do you need a crane to set attic trusses. Yes you ll need a crane because a typical attic truss weighs well over 100 pounds. The longer the truss and the steeper the roof pitch the larger the room.

To meet all three goals insulating your finished attic ventilating the roof and maximizing headroom use a combination of dense batt insulation rigid foam sheeting and air chutes. If you have a rafter framed attic the floor joists may or may not be large enough for living space and may need to be reinforced or replaced.