Building Roof truss systems for shed, barn, or a tiny house by Jon Peters

 

Hey, how are you doing? Well today I’m building my roof trust system and I’m going to build it before I built the walls. The reason for that is I had this nice level platform now behind me and that gives me a good surface to lay it out on. So the first thing I’m going to do is cut all my parts. So let’s walk over here. I’ll show you one of the finished trust systems and then I’ll show you the parts and then we’ll assemble it. This is the first trust that I built and from this I’ve made a cutlass through all my parts. So I’ve got the two by four on each side of the roof and then a two by four that goes across and it’s sandwiched together with a piece of half inch plywood. The first thing I’m going to do is cut all of my roof rafters and to make sure I cut them all to the same length, I’ve set a stop block up on my work cable.

Okay,

well I’ve just finished cutting my last roof rafter and you can see how it lines up on the deck. I’ve created a Jig on the deck to create the trust. This way each trust will be exactly the same, so now that I have my roof rafters cut, we need the measurement for my cross piece, which is this piece right here and once I have that measurement I’ll move the stop block on my work table and cut every crosspiece. Okay, well I finished cutting all the cross pieces and you can see how the clay attached to the deck of the shed holds across piece, right where it needs to be. The next step is to cut half inch plywood and sandwich the trust together. Now I’ve already cut it too with, and I’m going to cut it to length using the same method of a stop block. I’m using half inch plywood to sandwich. The trust is come together and that’s where the strength of the roof will come from and I’ve already cut the moral point of my roof angle on one side and now I’m going to cross credit too late. On a, on the chop saw here. Now I cut it too with on my table saw and each piece of half inch plywood here is seven and three quarters of an inch wide. And the reason for that is that way I was able to get six pieces out of one sheet. Apply with. Yeah.

Now for the peak of the trust system, I’m using the same piece of half inch plywood and just flipping it over and actually using the cutoff for uh, for the part at the top of the roof. Okay.

Now that I have all the parts, I can start to assemble the trust system and I’m going to use liquid nail. We’re a little cooler though at the peak and on the cross brace. And then I’ll attach the half inch plywood with inch and five eighths long screws.

Okay. Okay.

And for the brace I’m doing the same thing, a little bit of the liquid nail and then the cross brace. Huh?

Now I thought I should mention that I’m not going to be able to cut a birds mouth in the end of my roof rafter, and that’s because I’m using a two by four and there’s simply not enough material in the rafter. So what I’m doing is applying a clique at the bottom of the rafter with the exact angle of the roof, and then the clique will sit on the exterior wall to make sure that I’m attaching the clique in the exact same place on each rafter. I’ve set my square to seven inches, and simply by placing the end of the square at the end of the rafter, I know that I’ll always be at the same place and this will make setting the trusses that much easier.

Yeah. Okay.

Now that I’ve attached plywood to one side of the truss, I can simply flip it over and repeat the process.

Okay? Okay. Okay. Okay.

All right, well that’s about it. I’ll tell you, once you lay the Jig out and cut all your parts, it really goes pretty quick. Thanks for tuning in and I’ll see you next time.

Okay.

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28 Responses

  1. I’ve been told, and seen, drywall type screws just breaking under load little load. Fortunately this isn’t a house but what looks to be a shed so the same codes just dont apply. Every application has a different way of doing things.

  4. If I were doing your design I would place the 2×4 at the top of your ply gussetts that way dust and junk doesn’t keep falling into that trough you made, year after year. Also use PL instead of liquid Nails and real construction screws instead of drywall screws.

    1. Matthias Wandel did a scientific test that proved drywall screws are the strongest of any other screw type. Mind you, a construction screw would be more pliable if the roof truss deflects over time, whereas a drywall screw would have the risk of snapping due to the lack of ductility.

  6. Mate really love your technic I’m planning to build a 3 x 3 metre cubby house so thank you for going to the effort to make and upload your experience
    Thanks for down under

    1. Some plywood screws are black. These may not be drywall screws. What bothers be about the video is that he’s not wearing any sort of eye or ear protection and doesn’t even mention it.

  8. Hey Jon. I watch a lot of your videos because 1. You are clear and informative. 2. You don’t use gimmicks to keep us interested. 3. You cover a wide range of styles (art, furniture, construction etc.) and 4. You seem like the nicest guy out there. Keep it up and good luck. Joshua

  13. I’m building a garden playhouse for my kids and the part that had me most worried was the roof – in particular cutting the birds mouth to support the rafters.

    I love the cleats idea – saves cutting the birds mouth, and if you don’t get it exactly right the first time, you can remove the cleat and try again without wasting a whole rafter.

    Also love your garden by the way…

  15. I would just like to ask all the people below commenting on all the things this man is doing wrong, where are your video’s then so we can all see how you do it and it would be interesting to see what the comments are below your video’s? Yes I am not disputing the safety issues of no safety glasses or saw guards here, however the quality of this mans work is not any issue at all.

    2. Wayne Holmes, have you ever returned an undercooked steak at a restaurant, complained about a plumber who did a poor job, or voted against a politician who did things you think are wrong? Where is your restaurant or plumbing company and when were you President of the United States? You stupid fucking idiot.

  16. I came here to thank you for wonderful and such an easy way to do the most of important part of roof. This is the one of the best informative videos so far. Some DIY guys makes easy job so complicated ( maybe on purpose ) so one need to watch the same video 10 times to learn something . Grate video and excellent job.

  19. I have a question, Jon. Why cut the 1/2″ plywood cross pieces 7″ wide, instead of 5″ or 6″ or even 9″? Is there some benefit to that particular size or was it for expediency? Thanks!

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