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To borrow a phrase from a building contractor friend of mine: "some houses in this are were built to be able to park a tank on top of them". My house is like that. Seriously over-engineered.
Span and pitch are one in the same for roof loading. The lower the pitch the weaker the roof. The steeper the pitch the stronger the roof.
That said, if you have a shallow pitch with a long span then it will need support mid way. On the other hand a very steep pitch (10/12 or 12/12) the roof will be able to support more weight without center supports if the side walls are tied together.
Location: We_tside PNW (Columbia Gorge) / CO / SA TX / Thailand
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Quote:
Originally Posted by PAhippo
not sure what people who don't farm use them for but around here, they're also taxed less than a barn.
People around here add a very nice apartment inside a pole barn, away from the eyes of tax assessor. One friend has a 3 story apartment all finished out with SS appliances and granite counters. His barn is 120 x 250' with 24' eaves (he has an indoor Motorcycle 'trials' course too ). he has mean dogs and lots of bramble bushes where the assessor cannot get a sight of rear access / 20 x 120 deck over looking canyon. Snow load is 80# here, and wind 120MPH design factor.
Vertical posts with horizontal beams and rafters. No trusses.
What I see commonly referred to as a 'pole barn' never uses trusses.
I sold pole barns for years and will reiterate that a pole barn can use either a truss or rafter system. Rafters may very well be more common on a pole building in your area, but that's beside the point.
Rafters = low material cost, more labor to install
Trusses = higher material cost, less labor to install.
So if you're having an old-fashioned barn rasing using lots of volunteer labor, you can save some money with rafters. If you're hiring the work done, buying a truss built economically on an assebmly line that can be installed in a few minutes may be the way to go.
Rafters are also commonly used where clearance is an issue, for instance if you want to put a hoist in the building without going to a taller than needed sidewall. They also work much better if you want to put in a loft. You can purchase a "room-in-attic" truss, but theses are priced significantly higher and give you much less floor space than a rafter system.
I sold pole barns for years and will reiterate that a pole barn can use either a truss or rafter system. Rafters may very well be more common on a pole building in your area, but that's beside the point.
Rafters = low material cost, more labor to install
Trusses = higher material cost, less labor to install.
So if you're having an old-fashioned barn rasing using lots of volunteer labor, you can save some money with rafters. If you're hiring the work done, buying a truss built economically on an assebmly line that can be installed in a few minutes may be the way to go.
Rafters are also commonly used where clearance is an issue, for instance if you want to put a hoist in the building without going to a taller than needed sidewall. They also work much better if you want to put in a loft. You can purchase a "room-in-attic" truss, but theses are priced significantly higher and give you much less floor space than a rafter system.
Yes, well stated.
Though I built my house myself [it is an engineered steel building], and now I have done this garage myself [though the plans were adjusted by a contractor for me to get everything up to code].
... It matters not to me if your roof fails but If I can help you KNOW that it won't fail that's a good thing. No?
You have insisted that our county 100psf code is not enough and a roof built to that code will fail.
So exactly how many pounds/sq ft do you think a roof should be built to support?
Since you know so much about this, why don't you change the building codes?
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). he has mean dogs and lots of bramble bushes where the assessor cannot get a sight of rear access / 20 x 120 deck over looking canyon. Snow load is 80# here, and wind 120MPH design factor.
