Building Roof Trusses for Dummies

parts of a roof truss

While some freelancers know their metaphorical hind ends from metaphorical holes in the ground, we've learned that others are perfectly happy to keep spreading disinformation. Over at the mother lode of misinformation, eHow,com, it's common for freelancers to rework their content if they can find a similar "title"; double- triple- or even quadruple-dipping; and spreading the bull even deeper! We've seen some who will rewrite the article "troubleshooting a _____ dishwasher," filling in the blank with almost any brand name you can conceive. One of the more heinous DIY crimes committed by an eHow reworker is that of Lacy Enderson, serial DotD (seven awards to date), who not only pretended knowledge of roof trusses once before, but returns to Hunker.com with the same misinformation in "How to Make Roof Trusses"!¹

Lacy gets one thing right: the first sentence in her introduction...

"Generally speaking, roof trusses are structurally engineered and manufactured by a licensed truss company, sent to you with a stamped copy of plans. However, if you wish to make roof trusses yourself, providing the trusses are non-structural, follow some basic guidelines carefully, and you too can make your own quality roof trusses."

Yep, builders typically buy trusses pre-built from companies that specialize in building them. Otherwise, you just put up a ridgepole and rafters to frame your roof. We did, however, wonder about that last: just what the heck is a "non-structural" truss? Oh, yeah: a decoration... in other words, not a roof truss! Enderson had problems the first time she got herself tangled up in the topic of trusses, and she's gotten no better this time out: "Start your roof truss with a standard triangular layout. You will have a bottom chord, or a 2 by 4, along the bottom. Your top chord 2 by 4s attach to each end of the bottom chord and connect in the top center to form your triangle. From the top point down to the center of the bottom chord is a 2 by 4 called a truss web."

Oh, yes: Lacy's telling people to build roof trusses with 2 x 4 lumber! Again! As for assembling a truss, our dumbass friend simply says to,

"Attach each 2 by 4 to the next using a gusset. Those made in the factory are usually metal and have sharp metal prongs that extend out which are used in place of nails to hold everything together. Homemade trusses are made from small square pieces of wood."

Yeah, sure, gussets -- but WTF is "the next" 2 x 4? And when Lacy says that "Homemade trusses are made from small square pieces of wood," do you think she actually means "homemade gussets"? and "plywood" instead of wood? Oh, yeah, Enderson's on a roll now... check out this rubbish that completes the lesson on how to build a truss (which is actually part of "how to use trusses to build a roof," but Lacy doesn't know the difference):

"Fascia board is used on the outside of the roof trusses, after they are constructed, for appearance. The fascia board is non structural"

Duh... we know the fascia is non-structural. But, then, we also know that one doesn't frame a roof with 2 x 4s on anything larger than a garage, which makes us a lot better-prepared for this task than the likes of Lacy -- or anyone deluded enough to think that our Dumbass of the Day has real experience and knowledge to pass along. Sheesh.

¹ The original has been deleted by Leaf Group, but can still be accessed using the Wayback machine at archive.org. Its URL was   ehow.com/how_2322174_make-roof-trusses.html

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