Floor Trusses

What are Floor Trusses?

Floor trusses are a geometric design using wood members fastened together with metal connector plates to form a structure which supports a given floor load.
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Floor Trusses

How do Floor Trusses Compare to Stick Framing?

WTCA (Wood Truss Council), in cooperation with the Building Systems Council of NAHB (National Home Builders), sponsored the Framing the American Dream® project to better understand wood framing. For comparison purposes two identical house plans were completely framed using two different methods. The table below summarizes what they found out about wooden floor trusses versus traditional stick framing. Stick framing took 38 man hours and used 4,256 board feet of lumber. Engineered roof trusses took only 12 man hours while only requiring 3,147 board feet of lumber. Using engineered wooden floor trusses instead of traditional stick framing saved 26 man hours and 1,109 board feet of lumber.
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Floor Trusses

Benefits of Using Floor Trusses

"Open web" design to allow wires, plumbing, and HVAC chases to be ran with speed and ease. No drilling or cutting resulting in a cleaner and faster installation with fewer repairs. Inspections are easier and reduce time of inspectors, owners and general contractors. Easy to install and light weight, floor trusses can be erected and placed manually on single story structures resulting in "time saved on project". Wood floor trusses are manufactured 12" to 24" in depth with spans up to 40' long. We design specific loading requirements into each truss. Floor trusses can be cantilevered up to 6' in most cases providing a low cost deck or balcony option. Wood floor trusses allows for greater architectural design and infinite shapes and sizes. Variable depths allow floor truss systems to incorporate sunken floor areas into the design. System 42 floor trusses can be spaced further apart and provide longer, stronger clear spans allowing maximum design flexibility in locating bearing walls, columns and partitions. The 3-1/2" wide top and bottom chords provide increased surface area for attaching sub-floor joints and larger surface area for gluing sub-floor down. Floor trusses are very stiff and solid underfoot minimizing bounce. Floor trusses deflect less than 1/360 of the span length when under full load.
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Our Services

Select any of the links to learn more about our South Florida and Caribbean truss design and truss manufacturing services.