Save THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS choosing the right floor truss

[@johnwight4055]

This is a cool house. Looks like a very interesting and thoughtful floorplan. I love how it is proportional to its surroundings and not overbearing.

[@HowToBuildYourOwnHome]

Thank you, yeah this build is a beast and has been a good smooth project. Thanks for the comment.

[@chuckb470]

💯 agree. I've used them as a framer, and they are awesome. The HVAC ducting is designed into them from the start. One thing you didn't mention is that you can also achieve longer spans for more open floor plans. Perhaps the biggest builder blunder I've ever witnessed was with an $8m home. The customer paid $300k for the blueprints and the architect made absolutely no attempt to consider HVAC! If that weren't bad enough, it was a modern style home and had a flat roof designed with I-joists. We had to drop every ceiling in the house to accommodate the ducting as well as shoehorn in mechanical rooms and duct spaces.

[@HowToBuildYourOwnHome]

Thank you for sharing your insight. It's great when we all help and share our experiences.

[@brianyoung8999]

when I was wiring houses, this made it so much easier.

[@thecollegepicker]

Thanks for the tips and explanation, appreciate it

[@HowToBuildYourOwnHome]

Happy to help!

[@AaronHope_Sow]

Thanks for sharing. I appreciate that you also showed where to use i-joists and where not to for mechanical. At least one of the manufacturers has recently released a combo product of the two where you can engineer the duct run sections to have 2x4 and the other sections to have i-joists all in one run. Could you talk about the cost differences?

[@HowToBuildYourOwnHome]

Great question! The cost difference between I-joist and engineered trusses is nominal, meaning not so much that you say, "Ouch! I can't do that." It's more like, "Yup, let's do that." It could be between $150-$300 for each floor truss. When you add it up, you will save on drop-down framing, so by then it is even.

[@buildzilla]

hi aaron, can u provide some info on the manufacturer that provides this combo product?

[@SnakeHandler-g7u]

Could you make a course for INVESTOR owner-builders? The main difference between owner and investors is that investors want something very simple, durable and rentable. Thanks.

[@HowToBuildYourOwnHome]

Yeah we will look into that. Thanks for the comment.

[@Tylerproskine]

Thanks for sharing this! Great insight. Is there any way you could share the cost comparison of more or less expensive vs going with the I joist for this project?

[@NK-ic6yt]

It’s a wash….maybe I-joists (material only) are about 15% cheaper but you end up paying more for labor. That said, contractors always try to steer you to I-joists so bigger portion of the budget stays with them without taking into consideration that they could finish their job in half the time with much better quality floor system (trusses) and move on elsewhere to work and make up the lost labor revenue. You could also negotiate better on mechanicals since they will barely make any penetrations.

[@HowToBuildYourOwnHome]

Great suggestion! Yeah there was another comment that was asking something similar. It's not a huge cost difference and is always worth it. We will have to a do a video on this when we have time.

[@HowToBuildYourOwnHome]

Thanks for your comment, this is very helpful information for all of us.

[@stich1960]

If you really want to build nice homes, you should seriously consider drawing a line on the profile view of your wall and roof connection specifically, but overall as well showing your wrb and what exact line separates interior from exterior space. I think especially where your wall meets your roof. You could make some serious improvement for almost no money.

[@HowToBuildYourOwnHome]

Great suggestions, thanks or the comment! Really appreciate all of the insight.

[@tacosforus1688]

Timely video for me. Thanks!

[@HowToBuildYourOwnHome]

You're so welcome!

[@lexiebowers3822]

slightly off topic but, I notice you do a lot of slab on grade foundations. Do you have any thoughts/opinions on using a post and beam style foundation, particularly in a desert climate (phoenix)? Any insights (benefits/weaknesses) would be much appreciated!

[@HowToBuildYourOwnHome]

Post and beam is usually something I do if the soils require it. If not, I like the home either inside the ground with a basement or stem well, or on the ground as a slab. I get more utility efficient that way.

[@absolutetorquetuning7956]

Great video.

[@HowToBuildYourOwnHome]

Glad you enjoyed it

[@phil1954]

How can I purchase the floor plan that you use for this video?

[@karlakay]

So what's the height difference in the engineered truss floor Joists and the regular TGI joist? Because if using Eng Truss Floors the plans need to account for extra height, especially upstairs.

[@ericrollins4607]

What's the cost difference between TJIs and Engineered Floor Trusses?

[@HowToBuildYourOwnHome]

Probably a couple hundred dollars more. It's well worth it though!

[@JohnLee-db9zt]

This had nothing to do with the title of the video.

[@CrapE_DM]

Decent enough video, but that title and thumbnail are incredibly misleading. It sounded like you had a way to save money on the trusses themselves.

[@bass123450]

As an HVAC contractor, please, for the love of all that is holy, Don't tell your homeowner that they'll have some storage in their utility room in front of all the equipment. It's a fire hazard and a bitch and a half every time we have to service anything.

[@stich1960]

I'll add to this as the structural contractor stop telling people they can store stuff in the attic unless you're going to design your attic the same as your floor system. No, you can't add a whole lot of weight to the top of the ceiling that's only made with 2x6 when the average floor system would be a minimum of 2x12 for the same span, goes for trusses too.

[@HowToBuildYourOwnHome]

This is Keith's Son Kyler responding. Absolutely love this advice. We'll make sure in our next videos to make sure that home owners are aware of it. We'll have to do a video on just this comment.

[@HowToBuildYourOwnHome]

Excellent comment, thanks for echoing what has been said. Thanks!

[@rodm5830]

Would you recommend floor trusses for a small single level ranch on a stem wall?

[@chrisvids1820]

​@stich1960 truss designer here. We load trusses for attic storage frequently. Just ask. Usually we load just for a 4x8 sheet of plywood. Rarely do we need to use anything more than a 2x6 bottom chord.If you think about it. It's only an 8 foot span between webs