Roof Truss Blocking

Truss blocking at hip ridge.

Roof truss blocking.

Depending on the building codes in your area you may be required to install blocking up the rafter sections towards the hip of the roof a requirement designed to further secure truss systems against lateral movement. Each block is 2x4 or 2x6 depending on the size of the rafters and is secured to the top plate. A ledger is a horizontal board that is attached to the top of the the wall. The braced wall panel to the top of the rafters or roof trusses above is between 91 4 inches 235 mm and 151 4 inches 387 mm blocking between rafters or roof trusses shall be provided above the braced wall panel in accordance with figure r602 10 8 2 1.

The lay in is good enough. With trusses one truss makes up two planes so it s already tied together on a handstack roof you need that sheeting to tie one plane to the hip and from the hip to another plane. The ledger is needed to properly attach the perpendicular roof trusses to the top of the structure. It is important however to understand that this blocking creates the structural boundary members for the roof diaphragm and it is not optional.

A new provision in the 2009 irc and carried through to more recent versions is the use of blocking panels between roof trusses to connect the trusses to the braced wall panels below if the heel height is greater than 9. Roof trusses attach to a ledger that is on top of a block wall. Walls that are constructed of concrete block that need to be covered with a roof will require the use of a ledger.