Roof Trusses

The roof and roof trusses of a building is perhaps the most important part. Although you may not pay much attention to them, they are an essential part of the modern world every day life. A roof protects us and our valuable possessions from the outside world; the wind, rain, snow and hail, helping keep us dry and warm.

Roofs have been built for thousands of years by people from many different locations around the planet. Every culture has its own style of buildings and roof designs; many are dependent on the climate in their location.

There are many different types of roofs, such as steep V shape roofs, flat roofs and some which are abstract adding to the design of a building. The roof trusses (the wooden supports) also have many different designs and layouts.

The most popular type of roof found on buildings worldwide is the Gabbled roofs. These roofs are cheap and easy to construct. They are reliable and are great at dealing with rain and wind and all types of bad weather. Gabled roofs sometimes have other gables protruding out of them with windows. This is common where the attic is converted into another room in a house.

Hip/hipped roofs are usually found on bungalows, where the sides of the roof slope downward to the walls. These roofs have no gables (and very little attic space) or vertical sides. Hip roofs are efficient as they are self bracing against the wind, their streamlined design helps to enhance this effect.

A Mansard roof has two distinct traits, steep sides and a double pitch. The roof makes full use of the attic space, offering extra living space to any building.

Flat roofs are found in dryer parts of the world, where the building is less susceptible to bad weather. Flat roof homes can become very hot in the summer and are often painted with reflective paint or are covered in water to help keep the building cool.

Roof trusses provide the stability and support a roof needs, evenly distributing the weight of the roof away from the walls. The shape of a roof on houses and buildings is dependant on the shape and style of the roof truss design

Roof trusses are usually designed to make the roof as efficient as it can be against the weather. Sometimes roof trusses are created to suit a custom design for a building, but important factors like the stresses the building may encounter and it’s location should always be considered.