Improper Truss Modification

[Jeffrey R. Pope]

The things people do. . .

[rromoser]

But is there fire rated drywall on the bottom of the pull down stairs?

[Jeffrey R. Pope]

Originally Posted by rromoser

But is there fire rated drywall on the bottom of the pull down stairs?

Nope. . .

[jbreazeale]

My question is, WHY? Was all that done to allow installation of the pull down?

[Barry Adair]

Originally Posted by jbreazeale

My question is, WHY? Was all that done to allow installation of the pull down?

Homer the truss hacker installs stairs and storage platform, needs the room for those priceless possessions he, Honey-Dew, and the brood just can't part with. BTW all of this was in the trash on move day.

Homer goes to sell and some idiot nit-picking home inspector calls out absent/altered trusses, structural engineer, blah blah blah

Homer is seething, agents are peeing on themselves, buyer is in a state of utter despair, dream house is going to crumble before the ink is dry.

Enter, Super Solutions Homer, he convinces all involved he knows best, can repair in a few hours, no need for SE, some 2x's and a handful of screws, Shazam the deal can progress with no further delays, no harm no foul.

Now Jeff comes along starts the whole cycle again...he knows the rest of the story

All readers are advised to not take these statements as facts, always consult a professional prior to believing early morning editorials.

[David E. Helm]

I'm stunned at these alterations. I guess what Barry said is probably true. Makes not a bit of sense.

[hmiller]

Jeff.....All I needed was picture number one in your series.
It says it all...stairs running perpendicular to trusses....not parallel.
You already know someone got out the sawzall and started some "backyard truss wreckin"!
I saw someone do this to trusses above one of the childrens bedrooms, where they wanted to create an attic loft for the kiddos. I knew as soon as I walked in the room and saw the large 8 X 10 loft complete with ladder that there were going to be some really bad truss alterations.

[Thomas H. Dietrich]

My goodness.

I had a fellow electrician drill a hole through a truss. I found it, and yanked the wire and fixed the hole. I had to come up with a solid 2x4 and have it extend 2' pass the hole, and fasten it securely to the truss. IMHO, the truss only had a 1/2" drilled hole, not notched, or broken, and I had to go through fixing it with a lot of material.

How did anyone think this was ok, without seeing a SE? My fix, was based on professional advisement.

tom

[Jeffrey R. Pope]

Originally Posted by hmiller

Jeff.....All I needed was picture number one in your series.
It says it all...stairs running perpendicular to trusses....not parallel.

My first thought was, "I hope this is a conventionally framed system." I saw the trusses as soon as I opened the access.

The kicker is, the current owners had purchased the home 5 years earlier with the ladder already installed. Their inspector made no mention of the altered trusses.

[bandag]

Jeff, how many total were cut? we can see 4 in the pics. (not that 4 isn't too many!)

[Brian E. Kelly]

Sawzalls should be licensed.

[Larry D. Kage]

Originally Posted by jpope

The kicker is, the current owners had purchased the home 5 years earlier with the ladder already installed. Their inspector made no mention of the altered trusses.

Well, there ya go...it's been like that for 5 years, what's the problem?

[Jeffrey R. Pope]

Originally Posted by bandag

Jeff, how many total were cut? we can see 4 in the pics. (not that 4 isn't too many!)

I got them all in the picture - 4.

[thejnicki]

Thats huge Jeff...Theres only one way a previous inspector missed that, he didnt go up there..

[Peter W. Bennett]

I found this today about 1.5 hrs ago. The TJI's rest on a ledger board bolt to the beam. I am pretty sure its wrong, but can not find it in truss joist manual. The joists are not labeled as to the manufacturer. Any thoughts?
Plus, the joists are 12"o.c. and span to about 19' 6" which the online pdf of Truss joist says it can only be 18' 3". Does anyone have other manufacturer's manuals as a pdf?
Thanks