Hi everyone:


This is the outcome of a surprise find in the attic of an 1865 church that I happened to visit to film the timber trusses that suspended the ceiling.

This truss did not have the metal repairs on it when I first viewed it. The timber as found was nearly rotted through, and had started to drop about 1.5 inches.

This timber by the way was in length, a 12" by 14" by 45' bottom chord that not only suspended the ceiling , but supported about 50% of the weight of the spire of the church.

You can see if you look closely where there had been a chimney at one time right beside the end of the truss, and I suspect leakage from the flashing had allowed the rot to happen.

The repairs as you see them were ordered by an engineer, and have pressure rings next to the steel to help with the tension on the timber. Also there is a new piece of timber that replaces the rotted section, which was about 6 feet long. Most of the rot happened where the brace from the vertical post (out of sight) met the horizontal chord.

This is just another of the many things that I have run across during my forays to gain information on the many facets of timberframing.

This truss by the way was a bridge truss, very strong construction all the parts other than the horizontal chord was hard wood (oak), and the vertical oak posts were mortised into the 45 foot horizontals with a half dovetail and wedges driven from underneath.

the other trusses seemed like new and were amazing to see and photograph.

enjoy

NH