Roof Truss has rotted ends- how can I fix it?

[lmurden6]

Hi Everyone! Any help would be great. I have a metal roof that has wood trusses supporting it. The wood trusses extend about a foot outward past the start of the walls on 2 of the 4 sides of the bldg. They are A-frame shaped trusses. The truss ends are covered by roof but their underside is exposed to the elements. The ends of the trusses are rotted out. The rotted part is not structural/supportive, appears to be just decorative. No supportive/structural areas are experiencing rot. Is there a product that can be applied to the end to build it back up? Can I cut the end off and attach new pieces, possibly by drilling and putting dowels in between the old piece and new piece? What are my options to fix this without having to remove the roof and replace the trusses? I can do lots of wood work myself but am not sure what to do to fix this ugly problem...

Thanks- LD Murden

[DanG]

You need to find out what happened to this set of tails.

I assume that the roofing had failed or was poorly installed allowing water to invade the end grain. This problem needs to be addressed first.

I think you are asking how to make them look better. You could have some sheet metal caps made to cover the existing tails. These can be made from pre-colored aluminum or steel to be held on with 1 or 2 screws. You could sister the existing tails, create a fascia, and install a soffit. Either method could be made to work with a gutter, though the fascia and soffit would be more direct.

______________________________ Keep the whole world singing . . . . DanG (remove the sevens) [e-mail]

[tom]

[emailaddress]

If this was my project, I'd just use a sawsall and cut off 6 inches or so. Then sister some pieces on the ends. I'm guessing this to be a

2X6. Cut it off, put a 6" piece of 2x6 back on the end, and apply a 12" piece on both sides. Then apply galvanized nails or screws. That will be strong, and do a neat job. I'd use treated wood for all the pieces. You may want to apply some sort of metal facia over the whole thing to get rid of all the exposed wood when you make the patches.