The design process of pole barn trusses begins with a sketch, usually drawn by an architect. You can purchase plans for pole barn trusses ready to build. In the drawing, there will be a draft of the ceiling design, and then the trusses will be drawn in. The drawing will show how the roof of the structure will be supported by the load bearing walls.
Pole barn trusses serve to protect the building from collapsing because of the roof’s weight. It also helps protect the roof and building from storms, winds, and earthquakes. It is common sense to use a good design for your pole barn trusses.
Planning Pole Barn Trusses
You can easily purchase plans for pole barn trusses, saving you the cost of hiring a professional roofing contractor or architect. However, there are also many other options for coming up with your roof truss plans. The most popular way to do this is to create them yourself using special design software. The software allows you to design your own pole barn trusses. However, be aware that unless you have some knowledge of truss design, you should not attempt to design them yourself based on limited knowledge.
Designing Pole Barn Trusses
Trusses are always made up of triangles because it gives the best structural stability and durability, as well as the most support. No other shape provides that amount of tension or compression load as triangular shapes. Common trusses can be two dimensional or three dimensional, although two dimensional is common for pole barn trusses.
There are four popular roof truss designs. These are the dropped chord truss, the parallel chord truss, the raised heel truss, and the scissor truss. Which design of truss you use for your pole barn will depend on the look you want it to have. However, the most common pole barn trusses are of the dropped chord variety.
The dropped chord pole barn truss is of a bi-sectional design made up of primary and secondary pole barn trusses. This prevents the roof from raising up, which can cause damage to the ceiling and walls of the barn. These types of pole barn trusses are great for high winds, weather from tornadoes, and other disasters that tend to strike pole barns.
Using Pole Barn Trusses
There are several ways you can get your pole barn trusses. You can either buy them pre-fabricated or you can build them yourself. Using the plans to build them yourself is not difficult if you have some knowledge of carpentry or framing. However, if you have little knowledge in this area you should hire a professional roofer to build and install your pole barn trusses. Alternatively, you can order pre-fabricated pole barn trusses from a manufacturer, and then install them yourself.
Remember when installing your pole barn trusses you must make the connections very sturdy. This means you should not use weak nails, but rather use long wood screws and a screw gun. This makes the trusses much sturdier and connects them properly to the load bearing walls. Without proper connections, the best pole barn trusses will not hold.