Raised heel trusses and a sealed roof deck make a fast energy efficient roof system
Episode 5: Roof Trusses and decking
Last time on the Model Remodel Show, we were making energy efficient walls on the skinny.
We were able to frame the walls with 2x4s because we used Zip System’s R-12 panels on the outside.
Adding in some critical air sealing details should give us a pretty darned good wall, in a snappy manner.
"I was really excited to us e the ZIP R-12 Panel on this project. We've used the ZIP R-3 ands R-6 a number of times on various projects over the years and we're big believers in exterior insulation.
Putting the thermal control layer on the outside of your framing makes a lot of sense, se we were really happy to get out hands on the R-12 panels."
—Ben Bogie, remodeler
Adding in some critical air sealing details should give us a pretty darned good wall in a snappy manner.
This week, we’re sprinting to the dry-in finish line. Manufactured trusses and Zip System roof sheathing is a fast way to get there.
"Now that we've got our aluminum staging in place, the way we're going to start is we've got two girder trusses that sit here on our eave walls, so the first trusses we're going to set will be our girder trusses. And then our gable trusses will be hung between those girders, then we transfer over and we'll set our trusses this way."
Aluminum staging planks hung off manufactured brackets and clamped in place makes a stable and safe work platform to position the trusses and nail them in place.
Two long planks run the length of the house, and some shorter ones mirror the walls in the wing additions.
First up are girder trusses which will carry the load of the trusses that run perpendicular, over the main part of the house. The girders are doubled up and screwed together with structural screws.
Next is the gable end truss, which will need to be braced temporarily from the outside. The truss is set, and the bottom chord is flushed with the top plates and toe-nailed. Now the center is plumbed and braced.
Filling in between is done with a couple types of pre-cut blocks. Atop the plates they use 2x4 blocks that are 22-½ inches to perfectly space the trusses and Ben toe-nails it in place.
Higher up, they use strapping to brace the trusses plumb and to maintain consistent spacing.
After they finish the trusses for that wing and they move to the center section of the house. They drop each truss into joist hangers on the girder trusses and nail them off.
The blocking and tackling go on until the truss game is over and it is time to sheathe the roof.
Ben begins by talking on the phone.
Actually, He begins by snapping a line 47-3/8 inches up from the outside of the subfascia to create a straight run for the first course of sheathing.
Now, he talks on the phone.
As the Zip sheathing is fastened to the trusses, the strapping is no longer needed and can be removed. Ben also fills in the framing for lookouts as he sheathes his way up the roof.
With the main section of the roof covered, they fill in the partial trusses and overlay the valleys. The layover trusses are spaced correctly, the peak aligned with the others, plumbed, and then nailed into place. Zip sheathing is installed over them and Ben and the guys tape the seams and valleys with ZIP System tape.
Now, we are pretty much dried in and ready for windows—which we will install next time, on the Model Remodel Show.
—The Model Remodel Show is a production of the SGC Horizon Media Network and was shot on location at the 2017 Model Remodel project in southern Connecticut.