I am finishing up building a new pole building and will probably start hanging up some signs later this spring.
Wondering if anyone has any experience with hanging signs from the trusses of a pole building? I am concerned with the potential weight load on the bottom of the trusses.
Anyone have experiences or thoughts to share?
Bryce,
I have been hanging signs from the trusses on my barn using heavy eye bolts screwed into the bottom of the truss. I have no real concerns but then again I don't have a lot of big signs (yet). If you think you have too much weight on your trusses, I would be happy to stop by and relieve you of several of your signs so that you don't have to stay awake at night worrying about it.
BrianH
I'm not a structural engineer, but I would think if your trusses aren't safety factored higher than the weight of a few signs, you better hope you don't get a big wet snow.
Steve... that was my thought as well. But after reading, it seems the bottom cord of a truss isn't usually designed for much additional weight.
Cause snow weight would be on the roof & distributed to the posts, not necessarily putting much strain on the bottom of the truss
I have had signs hanging from my truss's for 20 years and so far no problems. And we get mucho snow around here, so the snow loads they must support are factored into my truss's. But I have often wondered if I was creating a problem?
I've never had a problem using the screw in eye bolts for signs that are 48" or smaller. For bigger heavier or neon signs I lay a piece of 2"x 2" square tubing in the attic across 3 trusses and loop the chain around the tubing. Although this requires drilling a hole in the ceiling to fit the chain through.
Bryce -check with the manufacturer if your really worried. Honestly Im thinking there should be no problem.Are you going to hang drywall as well? If you get the ones with the walls built in (Queen Truss??) then you have floor/ceiling joists, plenty of strength and a storage area. Worth the extra$$ IMO. Those are the type I would like to use if I ever get my building built.
the trusses are just the standard pole barn truss on 8ft centers. not sure who the manufacturer as the trusses were already up on the building when i bought it... it was an previously an open-sided hay barn that was built about 10 years ago, and I'm just closing it in and finishing it. you can kinda see the trusses in this picture...
Bryce,
I would think for metal porcelain signs, you really shouldn't have a problem. My 48" Shell is the biggest, heaviest sign I have and I be it's only 50 pounds or so. So even if you hung six of those across the same truss, that's only 300 pounds. Plus, the ones near the walls won't put as much strain on the truss since some of that weight would be transferred to the poles I would think. Now, if you had some large neon signs, I would be careful not to put those on the same truss and would span them across to distribute the weight better.
I see you didn't take me up on my offer Bryce...
BrianH
thanks for the opinion Brian... it helps. thats what im looking for, people with experience or stories of failures so that i dont experience the same, ha!
ill take you up on your offer, but at this point you have to buy the building too!
If it was permitted the building department should have the stamped approved truss calculation on file. It looks like you have 2x6 bottom cords. That should be plenty strong.
Bryce, for what it's worth your truss design is very similar to mine which you have seen and to date all is good. Hope I didn't just jinks myself?
My trusses are 2 ft OC and I have 6 ft porcelain signs hanging from them plus snow but they are within 8ft of the wall
No winter in Peoria Bryce? Looks like you'll have plenty of room for your "stuff"
No winter in Peoria Bryce?
actually the opposite... way too much winter here in Peoria! we've been seeing temps dip to -20 windchill for several days in the past week. here's the project currently, too cold to even work on the garage doors so i opted for tarps, ha.
Just a thought, call the company you bought the trusses from and ask for the structural engineer that engineered them. Let them know what and how much weight might be put on them. He can then make a professional judgement rather than guessing. You may have to add a strip of ply or other possibly metal between the bottom and top, small but would really increase strength.
The bottom cord is not supporting the top cord (rafter) they are working together. The webs (diagonals)are tied together with the top and bottom cord with Gang nail plates.The rafters are going to be stronger because of the pitch of the roof.But hey it's a truss. They build bridges this way.
Bryce, nice building now you can really stack the signs in , looks great
Bryce,
I design roof trusses at the Heartland Building Center Truss Plant. Our trusses are designed to be 3x stronger than what they are rated for!
If I was you I would contact the place who built your trusses and ask them for the load rating on the trusses and see what weight they can carry as extra weight, such as a snow load or wind load....
Bryce & Braden,
While the truss does work as a unit, the question about trusses that I've always wondered is how much weight will the bottom chord carry before the nail plates give away? I don't imagine it's as much as the liveload(snow) that the truss(as a unit) would support. I don't know that the chords are rated but I would imagine there would also be a rating for ceiling material and mechanical equipment(deadload) that might also be suspended from the trusses. I believe there would be a rating for liveload and deadload combined.
What Daryl said about laying a piece of pipe across would be good when your trusses are closer together. Bryce with yours being eight feet apart, that probably wouldn't help spread the weight out much. As a side note about using the pipe, I would use slotted unistrut. Easier to position eye bolts and just have to penetrate ceiling if you have a finished ceiing with the threaded rod part.
Pat
Thanks Braden & Pat.
Pat you touched on exactly what my concern is... the dead weight that is pulling only on the bottom chord. And since I have no manuf. info on the trusses cause they were already there, I have no place to call to see if there is a rating for dead weight on that bottom chord. And while a couple signs doesnt sound like much, if you had ceiling weight, insulation, lighting, and signs... it all adds up and might be too much, idk.
I will see if I can contact the original hay building contractor and see if he can point me in the direction of the truss manufacturer or offer any advice
Bryce, if your worried about the weight on the bottom cord, why dont you just screw eyes into the rafters and hang chains, then you could put them any height you want.If you dont want to drill into the rafters, sister a 2X board along side, that would actually increase the strength.
You guys are making me really nervous about that 4ft Shell sign I have hanging right over the trunk of the 40 Ford....
BrianH
JimT has the answer. You won't have to worry if you tie across the
upper part of the truss and use light chain. Plywood would probably be lighter and stronger than 2X