Roof Trusses sitting to low on top plate

[capitaldesigns]

I doing a small practice project using trusses. When I do a cross section I see that the trusses are not sitting on top of the top plates, they are sitting about 4" below the top plates. I'm sure there is a setting that controls how the trusses sit on the top plates. I don't know what that setting is. 

 

I'm using X15. I attached a copy of the plan.

 

Thanks,

Mike

Truss Plan.plan

[DRAWZILLA]

set the heel height to 3.5" or the depth of your bottom cord

[joey_martin]

Did you start with rafters then change to truss? Looks like you didn't make the adjustments (as Perry stated above) once you moved from rafter to truss. 

[GeneDavis]

It is a good idea when working with any release of Chief, to check out the tutorials available for what you will be doing.  This one addresses building with trusses.  

 

[capitaldesigns]

I was following along with this tutorial when I drew the plan. I did exactly what he was showing in the tutorial. His trusses sit on top of the top plates and mine sit below the top plates. 

 

I just called tech support. They said to copy the dimension shown in "vertical structure depth" and paste in the the "heel height". This will place the truss on top of the top plates.

 

Thanks,

Mike

[simmytruss11]

Glad you got it sorted with tech support, Mike.

 

For future reference in X15, that "4-inch drop" usually happens because the software defaults to a standard Rafter Cut depth rather than a Truss Heel.

As Perry mentioned, manually matching the Heel Height to your Bottom Chord depth (typically 3.5" for a 2x4) is the quickest fix to get them sitting flush on the plate. If you change your roof pitch later, just keep an eye on that setting as it can sometimes shift the vertical alignment again.

Edited 5 hours ago by simmytruss11

[Michael_Gia]

On 1/2/2024 at 6:12 PM, capitaldesigns said:

This will place the truss on top of the top plates.

 

This is wishful thinking.  You got lucky.

 

There is no built-in magic button to sit trusses on top of the top plate.

 

It's a complex mathematical calculation, don't even ask about it.

 

In the future:

 

1) draw your roof.

2) take a cross section and measure how much you need to raise the roof by.

3) select all roof plans in 3D and hit "Transform Replicate" tool and move in the  "Z Delta" by that amount.

 

Chief roof tool seems to have been designed specifically for rafter style roofs where carpenters build the roof on site.

 

I'm assuming you order prefab trusses from a roof structure company like 99.999999999% of the world.