Up with the trusses.

Installing the roof trusses was a big job. I had installed trusses close to the same size as these before, and I had done those by hand, but that experience was under much different circumstances. I did consider how I might lift these trusses by hand, but in the end I decided that it would be less risky for the trusses, safer and easier to use a boom truck. Another unique challenge presented by this job was the need to organize a relatively large work party - so far, truss installation has been the only time I have needed more than just one or two helpers. Overall, it was good planning and organization that was the key to making this experience a smooth one.

It was a chilly, misty, late September morning when I was finally ready to put up the trusses. The plan was to use the boom truck to handle all the largest trusses and when that was done, to set a stack of smaller trusses on top of the walls. The stack of smaller trusses could later be set up by hand. By all accounts, this was a clean operation and everyone went home safe - mission accomplished.

About a week before the big day, the trusses were delivered as a big stack on the back of a roller-deck tilt trailer. The first step was to unbundle all the trusses, and then organize them all by their type as indicated on the layout that had been provided. Once the trusses were all organized, I began laminating some of the trusses into girders. There was one smaller three-ply girder and two large two-ply girders. The large two-ply girders would form the gable ends at either end of the largest part of the roof. Before beginning, it really helped to develop a strategy and know the sequence that each truss needed to be installed in. In this case, the three-ply girder would be installed first, as it carries the end of an adjacent two-ply girder and several other trusses in hangers. After the three-ply girder, the adjacent two ply girder would be installed and braced which would then provide the structure for the rest of the trusses to be fastened to. To brace that first two-ply girder I nailed two of the jack trusses onto the girder ahead of time.

Stacks of sorted trusses.

Organizing a work party that was large enough was a bit of a challenge. I figured I needed four competent workers (including myself but excluding the boom truck operator) to make this job happen. One person to "steer" the trusses with a tether and run around, two people on the staging at either end of the trusses and one person working up the middle. Between people's work and family obligations I managed to put together my minimum number of crew the day before it all went down.

Step 1 was to install this three-ply girder that, though physically smaller than the largest trusses, was very heavy. Barry and I each tackle an end while Eli is out of frame at the other end of that tether. This girder had to be put in just the right place since it carries the ends of several other trusses.

Step 2 was to install this two-ply gable end girder with the jack trusses which I had pre-nailed to it. Barry had to steer one heel of this girder into a hanger on the first girder, while John lined up the other heel on the markings I had made earlier. Having the top plates pre-marked was extremely useful - and it was very satisfying watching everything drop into place and line right up. Even those jack trusses landed square on the marks I had made for them.

Step 3 was to build out from the gable end girder with the other trusses. I manned the middle position atop some rolling scaffold. We used short pieces of 2x4 to tie each subsequent truss to the others. Every 4th truss or so, we added longer diagonal braces to brace those trusses as a unit. Even more temporary bracing was added later to make the trusses safe to work in before the sheathing was applied.

By noon all the largest trusses had been installed and the heavy lifting was pretty much done. All trusses were toe nailed to the top plates with 3 1/2" ardox nails and then later secured with "hurricane clips".

By the end of that day, the mist had cleared and it was warm and muggy - unusually so for late September. That afternoon, Barry and I managed to install the jack trusses at either end of the gables, hinting that eventually this roof would have hip corners. Having the jacks bracing at either end made the rest of the truss assembly much sturdier. You can see the small stack of trusses that still need to be put up by hand lying on top of the "bump out" - to the right of that first three-ply girder.

A finished hip corner with 2x4 rough fascia.

Everybody Knows That You're Insane - Queens of the Stone Age.