How To Create Truss In Revit

Common Roof Trusses Uses and Costs

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Roof trusses are prefabricated frames used to form the skeleton of a building's roof. They are currently the most popular roofing method for residential housing. Homeowners and builders alike appreciate the savings in work, money and time that roof trusses bring to the building process. Compared to stick-built roofing, roof trusses have more limitations in design and customization, but the slight differences don't matter much to the average homeowner.

Why Roof Trusses?

Most residential building projects today are built with roof trusses, primarily because of price and convenience. A stick-built roof typically costs between $6 and $9 per square foot, with each rafter spaced 16 inches apart. Meanwhile, roof trusses are pre-built offsite, which saves on labor costs, and they're spaced up to 24 inches apart, which saves on materials. Your cost for residential roof trusses after labor is around $1.50 to $4.50 per square foot, a big savings compared to the stick-built option. On a 2000-square-foot home, a stick-built roof can cost from $14,000 to $32,000. The same roof built with roof trusses costs between $7,000 and $14,000.

What Type of Material?

Roof trusses can be made of either wood or steel. Steel trusses are most commonly used in commercial buildings, garages, barns and other buildings with a steel frame. Most residential buildings are built on a wood frame, so you will probably need wood roof trusses. If your home happens to be built on a steel frame or you're roofing a different steel building, then you need steel trusses. The price ranges from $150 to $600 per truss for steel, depending on the size of the roof. In comparison, wooden roof trusses range from $30 to $400.

What Type of Roof Truss?

Trusses are supported internally by support beams, called webbing, and the type of webbing depends on the the area of the roof. The most popular styles in modern homes are the Howe, Queen, Fan and Fink trusses, and which type is used mostly depends on the size and shape of the roof as larger roofs need more support. Standard roofs usually use the same style of truss all the way across, with gable or end trusses to cap the ends. You can also add a section of attic trusses to build a room in your attic or storage trusses if your roof doesn't have space to accommodate a full-sized room.

How Much Does Size Matter?

The incline of a roof is called pitch, and it's measured as incline per 12 feet. The popular 4/12 pitch inclines four feet for every 12 feet in length. Roofs with higher pitches are more common in areas with more snow and icy winter weather to allow ice and snow to fall off steep roofs faster. Steeper roofs also shed water and debris more easily and are better for making attic space. Trusses with steeper pitches require more lumber, which may increases the price compared to a more shallow pitch. This isn't always the case, however, as a steeper truss could use the same number of boards, depending on the design.

New or Addition?

If you're adding a detached building, such as a workshop or a garage, you can expect to use standard trusses at a cost of $4 to $15 per square foot. An attached garage costs more, up to $30 per square foot, due to the need for tie-ins. If you want to add an additional room to a home, especially on the ground floor, you will probably use mono trusses, which are single-sided trusses that resemble half of a standard truss. They connect to the main structure on the high side.