Cracked roof truss

Startingover

The Home Inspector found this. I personally haven't been up in the attic to see it. I'm half way tempted to patch it myself, but I'm afraid of a disaster.

Is this serious? Can it wait till I find a much needed, trustworthy repairman? The Home Inspector suggested sistered with another 2 X 4. Does that sound like a good idea?

(I think this is carpentry as in wood repair and not roofing, even tho it's a roof because I think of roofing as shingle type things.)

Daniel Holzman

It is hard to tell from the picture, but that looks like a rafter, not a truss. If you back up a bit and take a picture of about half the roof support we can tell if it is part of a truss, or more likely just a rafter. It makes a big difference as to how easy it is to repair.

Startingover

sorry to ask but what's the difference in a truss vs rafter.

What are the ones which form the roof?

Fix'n it

google is your friend.

if that were mine. i would pre drill it. put glue in there. and screw it back together.

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Evstarr

A truss is an assembly that is engineered as a unit to support roof and ceiling of a structure. A rafter is part of a stick built roofing system.

Not being an engineer if it were in my house, I would also glue that crack and put a couple of screws in it to close it up. But I would also sister another rafter to it at least a couple feet longer on either end of the crack.

sixeightten

That is not the correct fix. gluing and screwing it back together does not nullify the fact that it is cracked. The member either needs replaced (unlikely) or properly sistered to another member.

Wildie

It appears to me to be a rafter also! Putting glue in there will gain little. It appears that the rafter was weak because of the large knot in the wood.
I would use a jack to push the rafter up until the crack closes then sister another 2X4 on the side using nuts, bolts and washers. Do not use nails as hammering may cause additional damage.
Make the sister 2X4 as long as you possibly can.

Duckweather

Truss or rafter? A truss will have a W shaped bracing component, rafters to joists, of 2 x 4's with the center of the W at the ridge. It will also have no ridge board, and seldom crack. A rafter should have another one from wall to ridge, (or as close as possible), fastened to the broken one. The old one should be jacked up, (put a few 2 x"s across a few joists to jack from or you can crack the ceiling) glued, fastened, or a plywood gusset glued and screwed on the opposite side. Most of your strength will come from the new one. I would assume the old one has little original strength left even repaired.

Startingover

thanks,

I think what I'd worry about using a jack is that how would I know the jack will 'jack' upwards and that the pressure won't pop my ceiling downwards?
Unless, the jack were braced across a large area of the attic floor to spread out the pressure.

Yes, I thought it was the grain of the wood which causes this.
PS
My mistake. The inspector did call this a RAFTER . Don't know why I called it a truss.

Wildie

While jacking, a plank such as a 2X8 or a 2X12 would be laid across the ceiling joists so that the pressure from the jack is distributed, rather than being placed on a single joist.