The Attic Truss aka ‘Room in the Roof Truss’
When you are designing your building, and deciding what kind of roof you’re going to have, there are a lot of options to consider. One of the most attractive options is to maximise the space in your home by choosing to get an attic or dormer loft.
There’s something quite romantic about an attic room. Rather than a big empty and useless space – which you stuff copious Christmas decorations in – you instead have a fantastic bedroom, or cinema, playroom. You can use the extra room for anything you want!
This is a big part of the reason that many people choose to get an attic truss installed in their homes. They pretty much want to add an extension to the house, without using up garden space. This also will add a lot of value to the prospective property. Nobody wants to choose between a spacious house and a spacious garden!
We’ve put together this guide which will help you better understand attic trusses – so that you can be sure you’re making the right decision. If you have any questions which we have left unanswered, then please don’t hesitate to contact a member of our friendly team on 01244 539165 or by email at info@aberrooftruss.co.uk
What’s the difference between a regular roof truss and an attic truss?
Roof trusses are specially designed to spread the heavyweight of the roof across the external walls. They do this by using a triangular structure, which is also the strongest shape! When engineers build weight-bearing structures, they use triangles, as they will not fall when force is applied to them. Weight is distributed evenly down each side and tension is created at the base.
Ordinary roof trusses have support and webbing which takes up the entirety of the centre section of their triangular form. A roof truss is essentially a premade frame of a roof. However, attic trusses, on the other hand, have an open space in the bottom middle section of the structure where a room can be built, accommodating living space.
This is an example of a ‘Hip Truss’ – a popular roof truss design that is not used to create an attic room:
This is a diagram of an attic truss. You can see the support in the corners of the structure, but there is room left over towards the base, which provides space for an additional room:
What are the benefits of an attic truss?
We know what you are thinking – are attic trusses worth it? Yes.
Attic trusses serve as both a structural roof and floor in a single section – a double whammy! This means that there is increased living space without having to change the footprint of the house. Thanks to the utilisation of this space, there is a reduced build cost per square metre.
The full utilisation of the loft space provides some fantastic benefits for not only the homeowner but also for the builder carrying out the work. The complete roof structure is created offsite, arriving at the appropriate time (which can be in just 5 days). This will be ready for putting in your floorboards, finishing off the room and adding in plasterboard walls.
The price of land is ever going up, more and more people are making use of attic space. The addition of a room in a roof is much more than just a simple attic conversion.
Our products at Aber Roof Truss can increase the amount of usable room in a roof by a staggering 70%. This is even without having to make the building’s roof higher or increase the footprint. Going with an attic truss for your home design makes things a lot easier than undergoing a loft conversion at a later date. In that case, you would have to replace existing roof trusses with attic trusses – which is possible! Our project at Cuzon Park is an example of this.
Installing bespoke attic trusses in Curzon Park, Chester
In short, the benefits of choosing an attic truss are:
- Quick alternative to using the cut roof method
- Cutting site labour costs
- Fast turnaround from Aber Roof Truss
- Quality and accuracy guaranteed due to our latest technology
- Increases space within the house without an extension
- Adding extra value to a building
How much does an attic roof truss cost?
An important consideration when choosing your roof is the cost of attic trusses vs regular ones. Attic trusses, compared with standard trusses, (need larger timbers, resulting in a heavier truss which of course provides an additional challenge when manoeuvring, it may need the use of a crane when lifting into the building, or some other kind of assistance which could affect the labour cost to install roof trusses
The average cost of each attic truss, if we assume the span of around 8m with a 45˚ pitch, including the binding, bracing and clips then a roof truss could cost around £163.
For exact prices, get in touch with us and we’ll be able to do you an evaluation.
How far can an attic truss span?
Attic trusses can span up to around 90ft, it’s worth considering that long spanned trusses are more challenging to deliver, erect, brace and install efficiently. When deciding on roof truss dimensions, we create trusses on a custom, bespoke basis, so please get in touch.
Where can I get attic trusses?
You can get attic trusses from us here at Aber Roof Truss, we have been providing roof trusses of all designs, shapes and sizes since 1998.
https://www.aberrooftruss.co.uk/roof-trusses/
