Opening up attic space

Naz1298

Does anyone know anything about roofing trusses? I want to know if it would be possible to remove the three middle members (verticals and two adjacent members) to create a more open attic storage space. If there are any engineers replying could you give me the formulas on how to figure it out.

Attached Thumbnails

 

joecaption

Asking for trouble if you do that. Unless you get an engineer to redesign how the load is spread out.
Also unless those bottom cords were designed to hold a load you in danger of cracking them or causing the roof to sag.

Naz1298

I was afraid of that. Oh well. Thanks.

Daniel Holzman

Modification of trusses is a tricky business. You DEFINITELY must not remove pieces without an engineering analysis of the effects on the truss. There are no simple formulas that I could or would give you to compute the effects. The reason is that removal of elements will convert the truss from a structure where each piece is either in tension or compression (no bending moment) to one in which individual pieces carry bending moment, which is much harder to analyze, and totally changes the capacity of the truss.

Conclusion: You need to hire a structural engineer to analyze the proposed changes. Alternatively you could replace all the trusses with a different type which better meets your space program. Or just leave them alone and live a long and happy life.

titanoman

"Never cut a truss for any reason".