What Are Attic Trusses?

What are attic trusses?

Room in roof, or more a commonly known as attic trusses, provides homeowners with valuable additional living space, within the roof zone. With the ever-present need to optimize space in our homes, this adaptation of a roof structure has established itself as a popular solution in both private housing and with National House building contractors.

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 maximize 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!

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 pre-made 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.

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 utilization of this space, there is a reduced build cost per square meter.

The full utilization 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.

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. 

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