Over engineered trusses

Just a curious use of 2x8’s to repair trusses cut for pull down stairs.

Did they add it or modify the truss?

At least they went from 2x4 to 2x6. They were just one short.

They cut out all the center webbing to add the pull down stairs, sistered the 2x4 truss rafters with 2x8’s and added a 2x8 collar tie.

It looks like 2x8 to me, Marcel. :wink:

I couldn’t use my tape measure on the screen.

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Regardless, Only with proper engineering can it be modified.

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This old girl has gone through nearly 100 hundred Maine winters with no window headers, no jack studs, 2x3 ceiling joists, 2x6 rafters and she is still standing straight and level.



That is when a 2x6 was a real 2x6 and a 2x4 a real 2x4.

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That and the craftsmen were true craftsmen.

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Why because they used hand tools instead of power tools? :thinking:

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I think that had a play in it as well as the fact that labor was cheap and therefore had more time to spend on intricate detailing, mortising, joinery, and framing in general.
You have to admit that some churches and cathedrals that were built in the yesteryears, we could not afford today due to the high costs of labor and materials. Just an example.

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That exact installation with today’s 2x (1.5") lumber would not be up to code, however, would pass the test of time just fine. You have a single rafter landing on that double top-plate opening off center near a king stud. The cripple stud and the nailed 2x flat header also provides support. Now show me the same thing with 10 foot wide opening :slight_smile:

No, Scott, it was because they knew more than where the beer store was. LOL!

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That’s where they got the idea for Advance Framing Techniques.

That is funny, I find old beer cans and liquor bottles in walls all the time, O and empty cigarette packs.

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