Seven Truss Styles

Common Truss

• The common truss roof uses the integral strength of the triangle shape to form an apex roof with two equally angled sides of equal length. It is made up of a horizontal bar with an equilateral triangle in the center providing the core strength. Two right angled triangles on either side provide reinforcement.

Mono

• For smaller roofs that back onto a vertical wall, the mono truss provides a single slanted roof that fits into a corner. The cross-sectional shape of the roof is a right-angled triangle allowing it to transfer some of its weight to a wall if leaning against one. The mono truss is often made with a smaller support triangle inside of the larger triangle. The name mono comes from the fact that the truss merely has a single slant, while others have a double slant.

Dual Pitch

• Similar to a common truss, a dual pitch truss is used in situations where the apex of the roof is not in the dead center of the structure. This leads to one section of the slanted roof being longer. The dual pitch truss accommodates this by fundamentally becoming two differently angled mono roofs. The equilateral triangle from the center of the common truss is tilted to provide a single central bar. The two different angled sides of the roof are arranged around this bar.

Studio

• A studio truss is basically a common truss roof but with one ceiling raised to accommodate a studio room. A horizontal bar runs across the midsection of the roof truss and the slanted studio ceiling joins this horizontal bar at its junction with the vertical central bar. The other half of the roof has an ordinary flat ceiling.

Cathedral

• If a studio truss is the same on both sides, providing a studio ceiling on each side of the roof, it is called a cathedral truss. In this truss, both ceilings join the horizontal bar at its juncture with the vertical central bar. This truss is also called a scissor truss.

Vault

• As the name suggests, the vault truss provides a vaulted roof for a building. At the edges, the horizontal ceiling of the vaulted truss looks just like that of a common truss, but midway along it angles upwards towards the apex. In this sense, a vault truss is a cross between the common and the cathedral truss.

Flat Roof

• The flat roof truss provides a simple flat roof with no apex. It is made up of a series of rectangles, each with a reinforcing bar between one pair of their opposite corners. These reinforcing bars give the roof extra strength.