Hi, My name is Donny. This is my first post. I have a Ranch stylyle house in Maine. My house has a trussed roof. The wall running down the centerof the house was removed. The wall ran perpindicular with the trusses. The trusses are approximately 34 feet long with an out side supporting wall at one end and the othe end goes out over a porch. the suppurt walls are about 28 feet apart. This leaves a 21 x 28 foot opening. The supporting wall was in the middle. I have been here for about 5 years and i get a lot of snow build up on the roof and it doesn’t seem to have a problem but it worries me. I know nothing about trussed roofs. It is a beautiful open room, should I rebuild the wall or put up something fo support.
Thanks
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Don
theres a former truss designer on this board, hopefully he can offer some educated advice.
short answer, have a truss company look at it to see if there's a possibility they're clear span.
Welcome to Breaktime.
One of the main reason people buy trusses are so they can have clear span roofs. Solely based on that, I'd say you have an excellent chance that your trusses don't need that wall.
If you want to know for sure, look in your basement or crawlspace under where the wall was. If the wall that was removed was intended to be a bearing wall, there would have to be a beam of some sort directly under the wall.
If you look in the attic you might also have a clue. Wherever the trusses crossed the wall there would have to be a joint. (Intersection of one or more webs) If there's no joint there, then the trusses weren't designed to bear there.
Since I can't see your truses or your house, I wouldn't stake my life on it. But I'm betting you're in good shape,
We own a bog-standard 2-story frame house in the Midwest (snow buildup of a foot or two most winters), built in 1976. The width of the structure is 28 feet, between outside walls. The roof is trusses, aligned in the 28-foot direction, and they do not need a center support.
I'd be surprised if the trusses you have depend on a center wall.
Wow! Thanks for the replies. The wall was running through the middle of the house so, in the basement it ran above the beam holdining the floor joist which is supported by lolly columns. In the attic it ran a about three feet from the center of the trusses. I feel better about it now, thamks again for your help.