Roof Truss Tips: How to Futureproof Your Roof

When you design the roof on your new home, you'll install trusses that both fit the shape of your building and that bear the weight of your roof. While these are essential steps, you can add something to the mix.

If you reinforce or modify parts of your trusses, then you may make any possible work you do on your roof in the future easier and more cost-effective. How will reinforcing your trusses help?

When Might You Need Reinforced Trusses?

At the moment, your primary concern is getting trusses up that support your roof. While these trusses will deal with your current planned roof weight, you may end up adding extra weight in the future. For example, you may be planning on installing solar panels, a solar hot water system or an external air conditioner down the line. These products are often, or can be, installed on your roof.

If you add any of these units, you increase weight on your roof. For example, if you install solar water heating, then your roof has to bear the weight of the solar panel system and the tank that holds your hot water. While your roof trusses may be able to bear this weight already, some may not be able to take any extra strain. If your roof can't take the extra weight, you would have to have it reinforced before you install anything on it.

How Does Truss Reinforcing Work?

If you think that you may do something that adds weight to your roof and aren't sure that your trusses will cope, then you can arrange for them to be reinforced before the roof goes up. This futureproofs your roof to some extent. If you want to add something immediately, like solar water heating, then you can factor this into the truss build as long as you know what kind of system you'll choose. Your trusses can be reinforced in exactly the right place. In some cases, you can have brackets and fittings added to the trusses ready for your system to be installed.

Even if you aren't sure what you might add to your roof in the future, you can have general areas reinforced. For example, you could work out where you would be likely to put a solar water heater or solar panels and make sure that that area of your roof can carry the estimated extra weight.

To find out more about futureproofing your roof, talk to a building company like Prefab Technology Pty Ltd. They can advise you on truss types and modifications that give you some flexibility in the future.