Vaulted ceiling trusses can be quite complex without a continuous bottom cord:
http://www.designbasics.com/altcon/altcon-06.asp
[quote=dvalley
I’ve never seen a truss where the lower chord is not continuous.[/quote]
david:
Most, if not all, trusses of any larger size I see have a spliced bottom chord.
Or did you mean that the bottom chord is in a straight line and spliced?
That looks like a butterfly roof to me, not a flat roof. Most butterfly roofs I’ve seen have a steeper pitch from the center to the eaves though.
How old was the property, and were there any indications of failure?
Those that insist on a continuous bottom chord are probably not familiar with how a truss works, and are thinking of it as a single beam reinforced by the usually triangular structure above it. That is not the case. Each single piece of the truss is separately designed, and if a bottom chord is continuous, it’s likely more a matter of convenience for the fabricator than any structural reason.
A typical truss of the type pictured will support the same load no matter how it is oriented. Yes, tension and compression members may exchange functions, but that is basically what they would do…exchange functions.
Richard is absolutely correct. Bottom cords of trusses need not be straight nor continuous. We have all seen scissor trusses, right? Truss design is faily simple as far as structural engineering goes, but it is not as intuitive as you might think.
In the type of truss we typically see, every connection could be a hinge, and the truss would work, because it is typically divided into triangles, which are inherently stable structural shapes. Even if each corner is a hinge, the triangle remains stable and does not change shape, because it simply can’t, assuming, of course, that all sides are correctly designed.
Im in fl and that would never fly here,looks like somebody smoked so killer **** at lunch and got discabobalated.
James,
What was the verdict of your structural engineer recommendation?
Funny you should say that. We have a few of them in Port Charlotte, and the ones I’m aware of didn’t have any damage. I guess they don’t fly! 
Maybe because it was not a butterfly roof:mrgreen:
Marcel 
Funny Marcel! 