Attic Conversion Truss Roof

The trusses are double cantilever style.

Attic conversion truss roof.

Most roofs built from the late 1960s onwards are of prefabricated trussed rafter construction with distinctive w shaped webbing. A loft conversion or an attic conversion is the process of transforming an empty attic space or loft into a functional room typically used as a bedroom office space a gym or storage space. Loft conversions are one of the most popular forms of home improvement in the united kingdom as a result of their numerous perceived benefits. The conversion from a trussed roof to a trussless roof simply involves the redistribution of the roofs weight from the trusses to beams running from gable to gable.

It s a 12 12 roof so that s a good 11 at the ridge which even with new floor joists and a 5 knee wall should be plenty of room for a nice space. The role of the horizontal beam is to tie the truss together and carry the load that would otherwise be sustained by the support and vertical timber also known as the king post. However once a truss roof has been restructured and the loft converted they usually offer large spacious rooms which can be converted into excellent additional accommodation within your home. Before work can begin a structural engineer will calculate the size of the steels required.

The structure must be wide enough and the roof steep enough to allow space for a loft area with attic rooms on either side of it. If the roof slope is steeper than 9 inches in 12 inches of run it doesn t take much width to end up with a nice room 12 feet wide with an 8 foot ceiling. Often loft conversion projects can end up being a disappointment as on completion the owner finds out that roof height is very limited and as a result the space ends up being rather pokey. Although once regarded as hard to convert on account of their relatively slender roof timbers typically only about 30 x 70mm many lofts of this type have been successfully converted.

Looking back i was very lucky in that my roof had an unusually high 47 degree pitch and so there was lots of head room. An attic truss is a type of roof truss with an open space at its bottom center to accommodate a living space with webbing above and on either side of this living space. The attic space is 22 on the side parallel to the trusses 28 on the other side. Not only this but the structural wooden support of the newly created attic room can lend truss loft conversions real character too.

Attic trusses have a rectangular shape inside each truss.