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Updated about 3 years ago on . Most recent reply
Can you design a home with 35ft floor trusses?
My architect and I designed a 3 story townhome. Initially, he had a standard walled-in staircase on the second level but I found a metal guy who provided this unique open staircase concept with just a metal rail bar wall. I asked the architect if this was possible without wall supports around the stairs he said they could do all kinds of spans with the floor joists.
My builder said nothing and neither did the framing company. However, when the framing company completed the frame out, I noticed there was a wall across the staircase. I told them this is not the design. The builder showed me the framing company was just “following the software” and had designed a truss system that met in the center of the unit from the front/back and then perpendicular trusses cantilevered at the open staircase. Those center cross-member joists needed to be load-bearing of course.
The overall outside unit dimensions are 20’x35′. I am not sure why they couldn’t have a 35′ truss extend from front to back. The builder claims it is my fault for not hiring an engineer in the beginning and that an architect doesn’t know what he is doing. It’s bizarre to build a whole house wrong and then blame the developer’s design after it’s built wrong as if the framing co wasn’t even aware there was not supposed to be a wall there. It’s pretty clear they messed up and the first person to notice was when I pointed it out to my builder. Now they have an engineer scrambling the find a solution and it’s taking him over a month for some reason. I suggested using some I-Beams and metal support posts to keep the staircase open. I can’t imagine why it’s taking the engineer so long to figure how to replace one single wall of 2×4’s.
Is the framer at fault for designing the frame to require a wall there or were they just doing their job? Why wouldn't they have notified me they could not implement a design without a wall there if they actually knew there wasn't supposed to be a wall there but designed all the load bearing trusses to that point anyway?
Could they not have run 35' from front to back of the unit allowing the whole floor to be open without walls per the design?
Has anyone else built an open staircase concept and used alternative support structure like metal I-beams or posts to support the floor system?
Most Popular Reply
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@Robert Carpenter the building owner has a few options on how much they want to be involved. I have some clients who pay me more during construction and I only report to them when needed if the schedule or budget will be affected. For example, the steel I-beam has a long lead time. They can either wait for it but it may affect the construction schedule or we can determine if there is another option that may affect the schedule and/or budget. If it doesn't affect the schedule or budget then they are usually not notified. I take care of it before it becomes a problem. During construction issues always come up. The majority of them are easily handled and not a big deal. Take this case, for example, I hope I would have caught this during the shop drawings or when the 1st-floor framing was being done. I would fix the issue with the GC and framer and the owner would have never known unless the schedule or budget were affected.
I have other clients that want to be involved in every decision. I had one client rent the house next door (he was a pain) to see everything that went on. It is either because they want to learn or have a personality that they need to be involved in all aspects of their projects. This is fine but they do tend to be more stressed because they take small issues and blow them out of proportion because they don't have the experience.
If the owner lives far from the construction hopefully they let the Architect be their representative or hires a project manager to be their eyes and ears. We have contracts with the owner and we act on their behalf. We have no loyalty to the GC so if something is not built accordingly we tell the owner and it is the owner's decision to accept a deviation from the plans. We also document everything so that if something goes wrong there is a paper trail if a lawsuit is ever brought. A lot of small architecture and construction firms don't do this because it takes time and they are not used to it. I only learned the correct way when I worked in a firm with 150 Architects and we documented everything for moments like Lelands.
If the owner doesn't want to hire a representative during construction then I would think they have a great relationship with the GC and trusts them to get it done correctly or they are much more involved. Even if they are more involved it doesn't mean they understand all the codes and regulations and why something was coordinated a certain way. For example, maybe @Leland S. choose to do floor trusses for the mechanical ducts to go through and have no drop-down ceilings? If someone didn't know this they might think to use regular floor joists and build drop-downs for the ductwork which may save $10k. Saving money sounds good but it goes against what the owner wanted.
Lastly, it also depends on how big and what type of project it is. I have clients who build a deck or powder room addition. They don't need me to be there that often. Usually, once at the beginning and end. However, for a high-end modern home, I need to be there every week and during critical times of construction. For a traditional home where molding can cover up mistakes, I can go less often because builders are used to building a traditional home, and like I said it is easier to hide mistakes.
There you go. Lots of options and if you really want go ahead and rent an RV, preferably an Airstream.