Cabled Roof Truss

[connerd]

Hi All,

I caught the end of a cottage show on Home & Garden the other day where a fellow had built himself a roof that was using steel cables to act as the bottom chord of trusses to support.

I'm a newbie DIY'er and haven't really come across this before, I was wondering if any of you have any advice on where to start looking, or what this type of truss design is even called.

Any help would be great!

Thanks

[mjpliv]

Actually, they aren't trusses at all. It would just be a standard rafter roof system with the steel cables/rods acting as collar ties.

[connerd]

Would this type of system be structurally sound for about a 25' span?

[mjpliv]

Like anything not covered by a municiple or national building code it is best to consult an engineer. The spans are not the issue. My biggest concern would be the sizing of the cable/rods and the connections.

[Sophist]

Cables are somewhat common in large timber trusses.

Any member that is in tension can be replaced with cables, theoretically.

Once again the domain of engineers.