rafter issue - InspectionNews

John Stephenson · #1 (**permalink**) 05-30-2007, 09:41 AM

.....

Richard Rushing · #2 (**permalink**) 05-30-2007, 12:42 PM

John wrote: "2007 home with manufacture Truss rafter system. On the roof there is a rafter that , at least to me, is out of alignment, causing the "bulge" on the roof decking. Do you agree and also have SE design the repairs?"

Not necessarily...

I would first have made my way into the attic to see if there is a "chord" (not rafter) that is broken or maybe altered. In which case, would not be good (SE required).

Since that 'wavy' section is at the transition of the lower ridge and the truss of the right hand slope, there is a good possibility that the wavy section was the result of mis-aligning the lower trusses.

It's just too hard to tell without any pictures from the attic side.

Rich

Scott Patterson · #3 (**permalink**) 05-30-2007, 01:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by John Stephenson

Unfortunately , I could not get to this area of the attic.

I'll just make the comment in the report to have builder determine cause and appropriate repairs needed.

If this is a new home, then you need to put it off on the builder. You can't get to the area in the attic, then you don't have a clue as to what is happening or is needed to correct it. I'm with Richard, it looks like the trusses are not aligned properly.

Jerry Peck · #4 (**permalink**) 05-30-2007, 02:39 PM

While we don't have a clue ... a good guess would be that the truss system for one part of the roof did not align with the trusses from another part of the roof. In many areas, that angular piece would be conventional framed (hand framed, whatever) between the two sections of the trusses - this would be specified on the truss drawings as to what went where, but if the 'hip ledger' (for lack of a better term to describe a ledger installed alongside a hip truss to support other framing and the roof sheathing) were installed to low, then just what you see would happen.

One of two things happened.

1) One side was lower than the other side.

2) The other side was higher than one side.

The builder should correct it, not through a structural engineer, but through his truss engineer.

Jon Randolph · #5 (**permalink**) 05-30-2007, 04:39 PM

It is kind of hard to tell from the pic. Does the height difference go all the way to the bottom?

If it is only a "bubble", it could have been a wrinkle in the tar paper.

Rod Aparicio · #6 (**permalink**) 06-02-2007, 01:09 PM

Although, looking at it from the attic would help more in fully assessing what the conditions are and just by looking at the photos (and nothing more) I would be comfortable agreeing with Richard in that the roof structure was not built and aligned to share the same plane. I would although be very interested in knowing how the framing transition from hip (bulge) to ridge is being secured to avoid separation.