How To Install Wood Floor Trusses

Tips on installing floor trusses.

How to install wood floor trusses.

Open web wood floor trusses can be designed to support nearly any span. In my own home we have floor trusses which clearspan 48 feet. Make sure you ve got the right amount of flooring for your space. Start the installation at the longest unobstructed wall.

Truss installation isn t difficult. The most common way to lay install hardwood flooring is by aligning the planks parallel to the longest wall or run in the installation. Framers must take care however to set the trusses to the manufacturer s. Apart from a few exceptions like sagging joists this is the preferred direction to lay wood floors because it provides the best result aesthetically.

Floor trusses weigh less than floor joists and some builders prefer them because the open truss design makes it simple to install wiring plumbing and ductwork. In other words a 40 span floor truss would be about 40 inches in depth. Remove the shoe molding and snap a chalk line 3 8 out from the baseboard this allows for expansion in the hot humid weather and contraction in the colder drier weather of the hardwood flooring. In fact floor trusses are lighter and easier to maneuver than solid heavy joists.

Plan on the thickness of the floor being roughly equal in inches to the span in feet.