How to fix support beam

[^woody^]

wire nails bend a bit

How do they bend between too materials tightly held together?

 

[NicKarla]

"A" would be better.

I'm not sure of the purpose of these, as that looks like a trussed roof, so these braces should not be necessary. If these are a necessary structural function then they should be fitted with a single coach bolt, square washers and a spur washer (timber connector) between the timbers. But if these are not really necessary (ie not specified by a qualified person) then screws will be fine.

Everywhere I’ve looked says you must not drill into top chord trusses. Have I understood this correctly that you say it’s fine to do that?

 

[^woody^]

Everywhere I’ve looked says you must not drill into top chord trusses. Have I understood this correctly that you say it’s fine to do that?

No. You are deciding to fix that brace despite it not being necessary.

If you are going to fix to the side of a truss chord, then a bolt with timber connector, a nail or a screw is equally acceptable or unacceptable, ie the fixing choice makes no difference to whether something should be fixed there in the first place.

 

[NicKarla]

Lol, I can only go by what I’ve been informed and by what has happened to the trusses already, i.e. they’ve sagged/settled a bit. To me it makes sense as bracing them will stop them moving apart further in the future.

I know it shouldn’t be necessary but it’s not been put together particularly well so this is a supportive approach to keep it altogether and prevent the trusses moving any further apart in years to come.

 

[^woody^]

How are the trusses going to come apart? Didn't you mention that there is just one problem with one truss , which was caused on installation? Isn't all the other 'W' bracing there?

Trusses don't tend to just come apart, or move apart if braced on the underside .

 

[NicKarla]

No, the initial issue with the one truss wasn’t really an issue. It did flag up another issue at the end of the roof which had led onto these questions.
Sorry if it’s a bit confusing.
There are no ‘Ws’. It’s a strange design as it’s a semi bungalow. Most trusses are supported with a beam holding the apex up except for the end which has sagged/settled.

From what I can see it’s just a few nails holding the whole end up. The company that came round noticed the 2 cross beams there already and said they were important for keeping the shape (See attached). For some reason some of the trusses didn’t have any support which is why I am adding them.

 

[^woody^]

In that case, you should fit diagonal bracing and not the ones you propose.

Roof diagonal cross bracing | DIYnot Forums has various diagrams

 

[Notch7]

How do they bend between too materials tightly held together?

they dont hopefully - was describing how nails have more elasticity.

 

[NicKarla]

In that case, you should fit diagonal bracing and not the ones you propose.

Roof diagonal cross bracing | DIYnot Forums has various diagrams

Thanks but that’s probably beyond my DIY skills, understanding how to best join and angle the beams etc.
Have to say it’s confusing. The construction boss that had a look has advised doing what I’m proposing with a simply cross beam, suggesting that it would prevent any potential, future movement which makes sense to me if they had a tendency to settle and move apart slightly. It’s not in their interest to suggest work that I can do myself and I think they would find it odd if I asked them to do something that they have suggested didn’t need doing.

 

[^woody^]

The construction boss that had a look has advised doing what I’m proposing with a simply cross beam, suggesting that it would prevent any potential, future movement which makes sense to me if they had a tendency to settle and move apart slightly. It’s not in their interest to suggest work that I can do myself and I think they would find it odd if I asked them to do something that they have suggested didn’t need doing.

He's talking crap. That's a totally wrong way to brace trusses, it does nothing.

Trusses are at risk of moving sideways like dominoes, hence the need for W bracing. It's actually easy to do, diagonally on the underside from bottom corner to top, and some horizontal as per those images in the other thread.

 

[NicKarla]

Looking at that link there is a lot of wood going everywhere that my roof doesn’t have, lol.
Basically the attached picture? Do you attach plates to connect all those piece of timber together such as this?https://www.toolstation.com/tooth-p...BY4_nEtm3S4nb8G7Qx-XF8y9-agKvtFYaApBTEALw_wcB

A domino affect is an additional issue to what has happened or he was concerned with happening in the future. I wonder how this roof ever got signed off. It might be worth a second opinion but the odd thing is this guys company is one of the most reputable (and not cheap) companies in the area.

 

[NicKarla]

Just thinking the end doesn’t have space to do a full ‘W’ as the wall on one side joins the truss high up. The blue lines show the length of the trusses. The circle shows the top of the external wall that they sit on.