We decided based on a couple of factors to not go with traditional 2x10's for our floor
trusses. We went with floor trusses that were manufactured by a truss company. These are
trusses that are built specifically for floors. They look similar to a roof truss except
that they are flat instead of triangle shaped.
Here we are setting the 1st floor trusses
Floor trusses also have crawl spaces in every truss that allow the different contractors(plumbing,
heating, etc) to run their equipment up in the ceiling without having to cut through any
of the floor trusses.
You can move the trusses into place in two different ways. One is by crane and one is by hand,
which the latter option is the one we choose. With three people they were not too bad, although
some of the longer trusses were quite heavy. One person on each end would walk down the outside
wall and person would walk down the beam in the middle.
Do not nail the trusses down permanently at this time. Wait until you have all of the trusses
set in place so that you can run a string down both ends and make sure that they are all lined
up nice and even. Next you need to set all of the floor trusses an even amount of space apart
which is typically 24 inches. The final thing you need to do to complete the floor trusses is
to nail a 2x4 to the end of each of the trusses in the notch provided. This ties all of the trusses
together and provides a surface all around the outside of the house which you can nail your plywood
sheets onto. It is also a good idea at this point to check your dimensions corner to corner to make
sure you are square.