X bracing roof trusses.

Discussion in 'Carpenters' Talk' started by dave millen, Sep 18, 2023.

  1. dave millen

    dave millen Member

    Hi, I've found a couple of threads relating to bracing roof trusses but they are so old the links which probably show me what I need dont work.
    I would like to know how the two diagonals of x bracing cross one another in the middle of the x .
    Do they have a lap joint or do I cut one? Or bend one over the other!
    The bracing timber that came with the trusses are 22mm by 97mm .
    Thanks.
     
  2. PaulBlackpool

    PaulBlackpool Screwfix Select

    No expert, but if it was me I would bend one over the other or pack them out at the ends so they did not bend. I would use a circular toothed wood connector with a bolt through the middle to join them.
    I would not risk 11 mm on a cross halving joint for a roof support.
     
  3. ginger tuffs

    ginger tuffs Screwfix Select

    Bracing run aside each other the braces must overlap 3 trusses 2 nails per bracing on each truss
     
  4. stevie22

    stevie22 Screwfix Select

    You don't normally cross them.
     
  5. James.1986

    James.1986 New Member

    No need to cross the. Google it and you'll get diagrams etc
     
  6. Jord86

    Jord86 Screwfix Select



    Recently on new builds for some inexplicably inane reason the truss designers have started denoting the diagonal bracing crossing over each other, as if their previous drawings were incorrect and the millions of homes built with trusses since the 50’s are now completely wrong and should be condemned.

    I’ve done it both ways, cut one out to slot the other in then nail a lapped piece over the join, or bend one brace over the other and fire a couple of 90’s through the both into the truss.
     
    Rosso likes this.
  7. Rosso

    Rosso Screwfix Select

    I was told to put the diagonals bottom to top on the left, and top to bottom on the right (or vice versa) so any force acting on the trusses is constrained by both a compression and a tension member.
    And if they are both in tension or compression at the same time, you've got much bigger problems that can be solved by a bit of 1x3.
    Might have just been Keiths rule of thumb, but nothing I have ever built has ever fallen down
     
  8. Jord86

    Jord86 Screwfix Select


    As long as the braces are running diagonally at or as close to a 45degree angle as possible then in the real world it’s all fine and will never go anywhere. Like most things, there’s an army of pen pushing tossers who’ve never picked a hammer or nail gun up trying to rewrite the specs in order to prolong their employment.
     
    Rosso likes this.

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