Although manufactured trusses are more expensive than stick frame roofs when it comes to materials, the labor savings are significant. In addition, if you have a flat ceiling in the home, you can install the ceiling joists and the rafters at the same time, again cutting back on labor. The advantage of stick frame roofs shows up when the roof gets more complex. For example, a roof with dormers or a roof with a lot of valleys and hips may be easier to frame as a stick built roof. In any home, there are a lot of choices and decisions to make. This is just one and something that needs to be decided during the design phase as the details of the framing plan will need to be completed for the plan review. In addition, the engineering of the home will be impacted by the roof design so any changes to the trusses or framing plan need to be run through the building department or other plan review offices.
About the Author
Andrew Morison is a specialist in straw bale and green construction. He has shown thousands of people how to build their own straw bale projects through his comprehensive series of instructional straw bale, concrete foundation, and plastering DVDs. You can check these out at www.LearnStrawBale.com..
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January 14th, 2008 at 4:21 am
Hey Andrew, I just watched you post and beam DVD (again) I am looking at engineered trusses and I am woundering.. when I sheet the interior side of the roof and close in the area that in your video you lath and stuff (in between) rafters. your not putting any type of vapor barrier? do you not need vapor barrier in Oregan or was it on the upper side of the roof decking? also is your workshop in Bend, Oregan (April) full yet?
January 14th, 2008 at 7:32 am
Hi Ryan,
If I understand your question right than, no I do not need a vapor barrier there. I think you are talking about the area between the rafters on the exterior of the building that are lathed and plastered. The vapor barrier is required above the ceiling drywall between the insulation and the room (here in Oregon). In other climates, the vapor barrier is required on the other side of the insulation, so check with your local building department. The idea is to separate the living space from the vapor without saturating, and thus nullifying the efficiency of, the insulation.
There is still room in the April workshop in bend; however, it is starting to fill up quickly.
Andrew