Truss uplift

[arnoldat30]

My home was completed in the fall of 2014. That winter I noticed a crack in the drywall in my great room. The truss spans about 45 ft and crosses over an 8' doorway in the middle. One side is cathedral ceiling and the other is 8'. The crack is where the truss sits on the interior wall and closed in the summer. Is this truss uplift? If so, any ideas what can be done?

 

[arnoldat30]

Here are pics of the cracks on each side of the doorway

 

[arnoldat30]

Another pic

 

[nealtw]

That is what it looks like. Usually the truss company does not have the truss land above the wall like that. If you have access to that attic space behind. You would be looking to see if there is a wall there are if they nailed the drywall on the side of the truss or what exactly they did.

 

[bud16415]

Looks like truss lift as well to me.

As the house is that new I would get the builder back in and have a talk with him before I did anything.

 

[bud16415]

That is what it looks like. Usually the truss company does not have the truss land above the wall like that. If you have access to that attic space behind. You would be looking to see if there is a wall there are if they nailed the drywall on the side of the truss or what exactly they did.

I don’t have much experience with truss construction like Neal has but when we built my nephews house we had a similar situation but the trusses were not as long and we talked it over because the truss was landing right on a wall like that and to be finished and I told him to connect that bottom cord really well to the wall. We pulled it down tight and shot it in good and he never had an issue with lifting. I don’t know if that’s right or wrong actually maybe Neal will comment.

 

[inspectorD]

Best bet is to contact the builder, most likely you have a one year guarantee on the home, but he may be willing to come back and fix the issue.
Have them contact the truss company and the engineer to find the solution to the problem. Most likely you will have to modify the truss a bit , but do not screw it down in the middle to attach it to the wall. There are certain points that a truss can be attached, and others that do not work as well.

Let us know what you find out by the experts.

 

[nealtw]

I don’t have much experience with truss construction like Neal has but when we built my nephews house we had a similar situation but the trusses were not as long and we talked it over because the truss was landing right on a wall like that and to be finished and I told him to connect that bottom cord really well to the wall. We pulled it down tight and shot it in good and he never had an issue with lifting. I don’t know if that’s right or wrong actually maybe Neal will comment.

We always tacked them down so the walls stay in place. If you really attach them you can have the wall moving anywhere in the structure, usually it lifts off the floor and all the doors go out of wack seasonally

 

[nealtw]

It would be real interesting to hear what the contractor, builder, truss company, city inspector, have to say about it.
They will come up with ways to hide it, fixing it would be expensive. The gable at the other end doesn't lift because it was sheeted and if that is the truss there, the fix should be to remove the drywall and sheet it tiing the truss to the wall and replace the drywall.

 

[bud16415]

If it was my own house and it had been around a long time and it was my responsibility to fix it or live with it I might just hide it with a painted trim strip. On the other hand its new construction and a lot of problems never show up until a seasonal cycle and that wasn’t done right and should be fixed at no cost to you. IMO. It is a job but not a huge job and if I was the builder I would rather fix it and have a happy costumer than one that’s telling all their friends when they come to visit and ask about it who the builder was.

 

[nealtw]

If it was my own house and it had been around a long time and it was my responsibility to fix it or live with it I might just hide it with a painted trim strip. On the other hand its new construction and a lot of problems never show up until a seasonal cycle and that wasn’t done right and should be fixed at no cost to you. IMO. It is a job but not a huge job and if I was the builder I would rather fix it and have a happy costumer than one that’s telling all their friends when they come to visit and ask about it who the builder was.

Up here the builder posts a bond with the warranty company so, they fix things and charge it back to the builder if he won't fix it..
In order to hide it with trim you would have to add a bulk head at the hallway and other opening.

 

[arnoldat30]

Well, I actually built the house myself. I have a basic knowledge of framing but did have help from people who know what they are doing. I just put the trusses where the truss company designed. The drywall is screwed to the truss. The truss is nailed to those walls in a few places. It was not a gable truss, I had to add the other webs in myself. Don't wanna tear the drywall off. Thought about shimming it up where it is now and fixing crack. Is that dumb? Would it just raise more next winter.

 

[nealtw]

Well, I actually built the house myself. I have a basic knowledge of framing but did have help from people who know what they are doing. I just put the trusses where the truss company designed. The drywall is screwed to the truss. The truss is nailed to those walls in a few places. It was not a gable truss, I had to add the other webs in myself. Don't wanna tear the drywall off. Thought about shimming it up where it is now and fixing crack. Is that dumb? Would it just raise more next winter.

You don't happen to still have the map the truss company gave you? I would call them, they have run into this more times than anyone here, so they will know what works and what doesn't.

 

[bud16415]

Do your research as Neal mentioned and in the end you will have to try something.
What’s your climate like? If there is no rush to fix it I would wait and watch it when the weather warms and see what it does. If it closes up I would say that’s going to be a yearly cycle.

A few nails will pull right out with that kind of expansion and contraction. If I was going to shim and or close the joint I would then screw it together with deck screws and you could do that with just poking some holes in the drywall. As mentioned above The movement might come down thru the wall or go some other direction anyone’s guess.

Can you get at it from above?

 

[bud16415]

Chances are when you added in the other “webs” to nail the drywall to you strengthened that truss quite a bit and now when the climate changes it contracts in some members more than others that are in the warm zone in the insulation and the truss arches. The cracks seem to show that as they opened in the middle of the span. Not that it may not matter but is the high ceiling trusses also rafter framed?

 

[nealtw]

All the experts will tell you that the uplift is cause by moisture and a warm bottom cord.
I think that is more about, it's the one thing that is hard to argue.
In the picture you can see the last scissor truss is beyond the wall or just in front of the wall and a wall is constructed above the wall, I have never seen it done any other way.
That is why I questioned the map the truss company supplied. Usually there is one bay between trusses, it would be an easy mistake to think it would be easier just to move the odd bay and make that truss line up with the wall.
Or it could be just starting the layout from the wrong end of the building.

 

[arnoldat30]

I live in central Indiana. I can get to the back of the wall/truss. It was set right on top of the wall. I could not find the map from the truss company, but it would not have been possible to start from the wrong side. The house is not symmetrical, but the trusses on the other side of the room also land right on top of the walls. No issues over there though. The high ceiling is built with scissor trusses. In hindsight, yes a wall all the way up to another scissor truss would have definitely been the way to do it. Still going to try and contact the truss people and see what they say about it. This is the best picture that I could find of the wall before drywall. Kinda fuzzy but that is the wall right there with the doorway visible

 

[nealtw]

So you filled in the studs for the drywall. Did you add to the back for insulation?
What floor do you have, basement or?

 

[arnoldat30]

Yes, it is insulated. Basement underneath with 12" I joists

 

[nealtw]

Yes, it is insulated. Basement underneath with 12" I joists

At first I said the gable end never gave us any trouble, but in thinking about that, I don't know. That outside truss would be set on the outside wall and then the wall was built with the studs notched out for the members of the truss and toe nailed in place. So given that I suppose the gable could move with out lifting the wall.
If you have a wall below this in the basement we could look at bolting to the slab with seismic hard wear.