A
Th e
Component Manufacturing dverti$ dverti $ er
Don’t Forget! You Saw it in the
Adverti$$er
January 2024 #16294 Page #10
Floor Truss Technology, Part VIII: Inside Floor Truss Details By Joe Kannapell
B
uilders have been testing the viability of floor trusses, and they are now considering the results. Many of them switched from I-joists only because they were forced to do so. Either they couldn’t get them, or they didn’t want to pay double the price. Yet today, as they are seeing the increased availability and softer pricing of I-joists, will they stay with trusses? Did they experience enough advantages? Now is the time to solicit feedback from the field and to highlight the gains realized. While the open web advantage of trusses has been partially offset by the holes being drilled into I-joists, trusses are easier to connect, they make better use of material, and they are amazingly adaptable to jobsite conditions. Ease of Connectivity: A regional builder switched a townhouse job from I-joists in June 2023, built several buildings with trusses in the summer and fall, and was framing the 20th unit on a 22° winter morning. Each unit contained two levels of floor trusses framing into an LVL stair beam, which was, in turn, carried by a girder truss. The plies of the girder were easily tied together with FTC clips. However, after installation, their connection didn’t look much different than the doubled I-joists in earlier units. However, not visible in those units was a 2-1/8” wide filler member almost twenty feet long that was supposed to be nestled between the doubled I-joists and attached from both sides with an onerous number of nails. In addition, the framer benefitted, especially in the cold weather, from the simpler LVL to girder connections and the hanger-less top chord bearing details elsewhere on the job.
Continued next page
PHONE: 800-289-5627
Read/Subscribe online at www.componentadvertiser.com
FAX: 800-524-4982