In Floors we Truss

You may remember me mentioning that we're using Open-Web Floor Trusses in a previous post, well today's the day I'm going to explain them!

I'm sure if you've ever been in an unfinished basement and looked up, you likely saw a whole bunch of I-beams or 2x10 floor joists. 

I-beams look like this:

And 2x10 floor joists look like this:

We decided to go with Open-Web Floor Trusses which look like this:

I actually had no idea what Open-Web Floor Trusses were until this summer when I trespassed into my dad's neighbour's house that was under construction. My dad said it was ok to go in, so that means it was :)

After looking up the trusses and pricing them out, I knew we had to have them. 

Here's why:

1) they're open, so you can run all of your wiring and duct work through them without needing bulkheads.  Our 9' basement ceilings will actually be 9'!

2) there's no need to drill holes or cut into floor joists, therefore no compromising the structure. 

3) they can span farther than regular joists. I think they can span up to 22', but don't quote me on that! 

What this meant for us is not having posts in the middle of our future rec room. 

We actually modified our plans half way through the process to accommodate the floor trusses so I can show you the difference. 

Regular joists:

See the dash across the middle of the room and the square? That's a steel beam and support post, right in the middle of the room. 

Now with the trusses, the beam is still there, just pushed back further into the wall of the stairs. Hidden! 

You might be wondering, if there are so many benefits, why doesn't everyone go that route? 

Well, they do cost a bit more money. About 15-20% more than regular joists.

Eliminating an awkward beam and post  and no bulkheads was worth it for us!  

Here is the floor joist plan from TRS Components to give you a visual on how they'll be installed. 

We had great a experience from day one with them. We got the initial quote quickly, were offered great advice for unrelated house building things and always get a quick response to questions.

This is why I love dealing with small town businesses!