Light gauge trusses on CMU bearing/shear walls

[stroyan]

Folks,

It has been some time since I have dealt with light-gauge trusses, esp. connections. A truss manufacturer suggested to me to embed a steel plate in the bond beam at the top of my CMU walls and to have the light-gauge trusses welded to the plate. Has anyone found any issues with this, especially concerning constructability and capacity of the connection?

Thanks.

 

[UcfSE]

Sounds like a good suggestion to me. That's what I would do. You have to check all the engineering of course, thoroughly.

 

[msquared48]

No parapet above the roofline? If there is not, then this would work, but that scenario is not the usual case.

If there is a parapet, this type of connection will not be possible. You will have to use an angle system bolted to the side of the CMU wall to attach both the trusses, and collect the shear from the diaphragm to the wall. You will also be able to create slope lines at the wall for drainage if it is a roof diaphragm.

Mike McCann
McCann Engineering