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Ernie Simpson
04-12-2013, 09:37 AM
The pictures below show trusses I saw in an attic yesterday. They were from a modular, 1985 home. I don't like the design of the connector plates between the upper and lower rafter sections. I've seen where they have come loose in another home. You can see where one of the plates is slightly crimped. Also, very ad hoc vertical supports were installed from the center partition up to the tops of the rafters, near the ridge. Very little securing was done at the base of top.
Does anyone have any experience or knowledge that would let me say these trusses are a faulty design?

Gregory Booth
04-13-2013, 06:30 AM
The pictures below show trusses I saw in an attic yesterday. They were from a modular, 1985 home. I don't like the design of the connector plates between the upper and lower rafter sections. I've seen where they have come loose in another home. You can see where one of the plates is slightly crimped. Also, very ad hoc vertical supports were installed from the center partition up to the tops of the rafters, near the ridge. Very little securing was done at the base of top.
Does anyone have any experience or knowledge that would let me say these trusses are a faulty design?

........pretty common with hinged-roof designs in mods and HUD codes. Many manufacturers require short sections of 2X or plywood material to be placed over the hinge plate in order to "bridge" the two rafter sections to prevent sag. Sometimes a swing-up purlin support will be included at the hinge location. The home manufacturer's instructions would (should) specify what detail is required - there are some that require nothing more than what you see. Everyone has a voice in the proper application - that is to say, the hinge manufacturer, the factory builder, the installer, the AHJ. I always try to determine who manufactured the home, and if possible contact the factory to see what their policy was during the era of manufacture for this particular unit.........Greg

Dom D'Agostino
04-13-2013, 02:09 PM
Common in manufactured homes. They're engineered components and they are different than those found in a typical site-built house; not built to the local codes but to HUD standards.

How did the roof feel under foot? It looks solid from your photos.

Leigh Goodman
04-15-2013, 05:27 AM
[QUOTE=Ernie Simpson;224520]The pictures below show trusses I saw in an attic yesterday. They were from a modular, 1985 home.

Just a reminder that the terms "modular home" and "manufactured home" are not synonyms. They are descriptive of very different construction techniques.

Gregory Booth
04-15-2013, 03:01 PM
[QUOTE=Ernie Simpson;224520]The pictures below show trusses I saw in an attic yesterday. They were from a modular, 1985 home.

Just a reminder that the terms "modular home" and "manufactured home" are not synonyms. They are descriptive of very different construction techniques.

............you are correct. However,they are both built in a factory. Modulars built to the state code where the unit will be sited. Manufactured homes (HUD Codes) built to the national HUD codes. That said, they share many commonalities and in this instance, the rafter system in the OP could well have been in either type of home.........Greg.

Mark Reinmiller
04-19-2013, 06:08 AM
The pictures below show trusses I saw in an attic yesterday. They were from a modular, 1985 home. I don't like the design of the connector plates between the upper and lower rafter sections. I've seen where they have come loose in another home. You can see where one of the plates is slightly crimped. Also, very ad hoc vertical supports were installed from the center partition up to the tops of the rafters, near the ridge. Very little securing was done at the base of top.
Does anyone have any experience or knowledge that would let me say these trusses are a faulty design?

It does not look like the vertical supports were nailed in place. However, assuming the roof is more than a 3/12 pitch the verticals probably have not real function once the two halves are attached together.

Regarding the hinged joint, I have never seen a problem with these, but would not be surprised to come across a damaged one since I have seen many other damaged connectors.