Raising Trusses with a Crane – Brilliant Idea!

Just Truss Me

I met with the president of a local roofing and house construction company on Monday who seemed really interested in the work that I was doing. I told him my story about how I needed some help getting the roof up before November. He said that he had a crew working in Iowa who usually gets done with their 40 hours on Thursdays and they are sometimes free to do work after that. On Wednesday he informed me that they would work when they could on Fridays and Saturdays until the roof was roughed-in. He said to expect a crew of three on Friday morning probably around 9 AM.

Well, on Friday morning at 7:30 AM a crew of five showed up to help out. And oh by the way, they came with a 90′ crane! And they completed roughing in the roof by Saturday afternoon! I was so amazed by what a talented team of carpenters they were. They did excellent work and they really worked efficiently. I cannot say enough about the crew. Here’s a chronological pictorial of how fast things went. (By the way, this was money well spent in my opinion. I never could have gotten this done before November otherwise.)

Step 1. Raising the trusses. All trusses were raised by 11:00 AM on Friday Morning.

Step 2. All 320 braces were secured to the trusses by 10:30 AM on Saturday Morning. All 16 fascia boards were cut and nailed in place.

Step 3. All of the 64 pieces of plywood sheathing were cut and nailed by 1:30 on Saturday Afternoon.

Step 4. All of the water and ice shield was laid and stapled by 3:30 on Saturday Afternoon. The cupola was rough framed by them too.

Here’s a look at all of the trusses and bracing looking from the first floor up to the center.