All Stick Frame ? No Trusses ? What does this mean ? (Clarksville: real estate, houses)

[hoosier07]

"All Stick frame construction. NO TRUSSES! Which gives you tons of attic space." I don't understand it, how come a home does not have trusses....is it another $$$ cutting strategy of builders nowadays ? Does anyone that work with construction can help me with a comment ? You have much more attic space but then the roof falls on your head ?

[pioti]

I assume the following:
Trusses are engineered and prefabricated off site and have a lot of individual wood members throughout making access difficult through them. They are delivered by truck and set into place.

Stick framing means that a roof is stacked (framed) in place on site with different lumber being used (bigger probably) due to longer spans. Once again I would double check bit stick framed will give you access to an attic vs trusses you have to crawl through.

I am not familiar with TN building codes and procedures but I would assume that all plans have to go through plan check and be certified by an enginner etc.

Hope this helps.

[hoosier07]

Thanks Pioti, I was actually waiting for an answer from you...he..he..he...I know you're an expert on it. I liked the explanation on the stick framing and the idea that it was done in place giving more access to the attic. Like you said, it should be perfect or even better if done by an engineer with the approvals from the city. The stick framing appears to be a more custom build style. Again....thanks for sharing your knowledge.

[Steve-o]

Originally Posted by hoosier07

"All Stick frame construction. NO TRUSSES! Which gives you tons of attic space." I don't understand it, how come a home does not have trusses....is it another $$$ cutting strategy of builders nowadays ? Does anyone that work with construction can help me with a comment ? You have much more attic space but then the roof falls on your head ?

Bingo!!! Thats the reason most houses in TN are so dirt cheap, theyre horribly made, trust me on that. When I lived in Clarksville, I had my dad come down to look at a house we were considering buying (hes in construction). After 15 minutes of scrutinizing, he flat out laughed at the real estate agent and couldnt believe they would build/sell homes with such shoddy construction. Needless to say we came back home. Be super careful with the homes you want to buy. I dont know if its the same in all of TN as it was in Clarksville, but those homes were a joke. A seriously bad joke. Another bad thing was, considering that TN is very prone to tornadoes, we couldnt find a single home with a basement. Truly frustrating.

[jabogitlu]

When we built our house, we decided we had enough room (4 bedrooms) to forego using stick frame methods, so we just used trusses.

The OP is right in that trusses are mass-manufactured and installed with a crane and are thus cheaper. Stick Frames allow you usually to finish whatever extra space you end up having, thus creating (sometimes) an extra room(s) or at the least, a semi-finished attic space.

[rescue1]

Where to start. First please do not assume, only maybe 20 of the 95 counties in Tennessee have codes inspections. But this dose not mean "Bingo!!! Thats the reason most houses in TN are so dirt cheap, theyre horribly made, trust me on that" It has to do with the builder not the inspector. The word ya'll are looking for is rafters. Most of the bigger cut up custom houses have a rafter system for the roof. Yes you can have attic space. If you plan on it and put heavy enough joist in to support a floor load for the up stairs.

"Another bad thing was, considering that TN is very prone to tornadoes, we couldn't find a single home with a basement. Truly frustrating." Here in Cookeville about half of the new const. have basements. My son installs ICF basements witch withstand tornadoes very well.

[pioti]

rescue1- I ahave been researching ICF houses as a friend built one. One of the options I am considering instead of buying is building. Can you help with some leads?

[alleycat]

Slightly off-topic. A few things to watch out for with trusses: One is if the builder is fabricating the trusses himself (there is a little more to making a truss that putting lumber together and and hammering on a nail plate). The other thing is how the trusses are handled on the jobsite. Trusses have to be handled in the correct manner. Probably the worse thing I see when trusses are used is that they are placed on two-foot centers and they don't use a thick enough decking. You can stand back from some houses and see a bow from truss to truss.

[Steve-o]

Originally Posted by rescue1

Where to start. First please do not assume, only maybe 20 of the 95 counties in Tennessee have codes inspections. But this dose not mean "Bingo!!! Thats the reason most houses in TN are so dirt cheap, theyre horribly made, trust me on that" It has to do with the builder not the inspector. The word ya'll are looking for is rafters. Most of the bigger cut up custom houses have a rafter system for the roof. Yes you can have attic space. If you plan on it and put heavy enough joist in to support a floor load for the up stairs.

"Another bad thing was, considering that TN is very prone to tornadoes, we couldn't find a single home with a basement. Truly frustrating." Here in Cookeville about half of the new const. have basements. My son installs ICF basements witch withstand tornadoes very well.

Thats why I limited my statements to Clarksville alone, hence my statement "I dont know if its the same in all of TN as it was in Clarksville". We looked at over a dozen homes, all were laughable and downright garbage. No wonder they cost 70 grand and are built in one month. LOL

[JMT]

Originally Posted by Steve-o

Thats why I limited my statements to Clarksville alone, hence my statement "I dont know if its the same in all of TN as it was in Clarksville". We looked at over a dozen homes, all were laughable and downright garbage. No wonder they cost 70 grand and are built in one month. LOL

I suspect that much of that is because of the transient nature of a military town like Clarksville. I don't know that I've ever been around a military base anywhere in the country that wasn't filled with lots of cheap housing--"cheap" meaning inexpensive AND poorly built.