Sweet and Simple: Advantages of Common Style Timber Frame Trusses

Posted on: 30 March 2017

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Timber trusses come in multiple designs, but most of these designs can be divided into the following five basic categories: common, queen, king, hammer and scissor. There are pros and cons of all these designs, but if you're wondering about the common truss, here's a look at the key advantages of this sweet and simple design.

Easy to Build

If you are a beginning builder and you want to include timber trusses in your design, the common truss is the ideal option. This simple design features a single lower tie beam that joins the rafters. Between the lower tie beam and the sides of the wall, you typically see two supporting beams at a 45 degree angle to the tie beam and the side walls. There is nothing in the gable space in this type of timber truss.

Compared to trusses with more elements, the common truss is the easiest to put together. The angles are also very straightforward which is ideal for a beginning builder to manage.

Minimum Timber and Supply Requirements

Thanks to its simple design, the common truss also requires less wood than other truss designs. It optimises a simple design to hold the weight of your roof as needed, but it doesn't require a lot of ornate pieces like the scissor or hammer designs. By extension, you also need fewer screws and nails to make a common timber truss than you need for some other styles.

Simple Design

The simple design of common trusses doesn't compete with other design elements in your home. If you want to showcase your windows or draw attention to another feature in your home, this design allows that to happen. Common trusses make a simple, yet elegant statement, but they don't act as a conversation piece that more complicated styles of trusses may.

Rafter Potential

If you are using the common truss design in a great room, it creates a sweeping look, but with this design, you also have future potential. If you eventually, decide to change the style of your home, you can use the open rafter area of the common trusses to add a loft or a rafter storage area to your home. If you use trusses that have bits of wood in the rafters that isn't possible without replacing the trusses.

For more ideas or to talk about the pros and cons of other styles of timber trusses, contact a timber truss expert.