How Much Is a Truss Package Worth to a Framer?

Up. Down. Then somehow even more down.

But it's Friday, so morale is temporarily back to acceptable levels.

Quick question before we get into it:

How much money do you think is fair for a framer to cut up and throw away an entire truss package? Asking for a friend.

Good: Builder sentiment ticked up to 37 in May, off the April low of 34. Small move, but at least the arrow is pointing the right direction.

Bad: Housing starts fell 2.8% in April to 1.47 million units, lumber is running 6.8% higher than this time last year, and the industry still needs 349,000 new workers just to stay even in 2026.

Oh, and gas is $4.32, Nationally. Sweet.

First one for me.

My truss company accidentally sent the system for the ranch version of my build.

But we weren't building the ranch version.

My office submitted the original plan, but with the rec room option added. Thankfully, my framer caught it before we got too far, which saved me from an even bigger disaster. Still cost me two days and a whole lot of la queja from the framing crew.

Naturally, we tried to save it.

The truss manufacturer wanted to piece together half the house and make it work. On paper? Maybe.

Reality? Not happening.

Adding bonus rooms or rec rooms usually changes heel heights and roof pitches to account for added conditioned square footage. Small option, big consequences.

In the end, we scrapped the whole package.

Painful? Absolutely.

Sometimes the 'do it right' route is also the route that ruins your Thursday.

Take a second and admire this masterpiece of a 'hey, this oughta do it' repair.

We'll get into truss repairs and bracing a little more below, but this is a pretty good example of what does not count as fixing a broken truss.

Scabbing a random 2x6 across the intersection of a couple gussets into the top chord just doesn't work, Johnny.

And look — I appreciate initiative. My framer meant well.

Problem is, trusses are engineered. Once they crack, split, or get damaged, we're not freelancing anymore.

This one needed a repair letter and, more than likely, some 1/2" OSB gussets on both sides sized by the engineer.

Good effort, poor judgment.

Trusses have to be braced to prevent rotation and keep everything stable, and that bracing is supposed to follow the truss drawings.

If the drawings don't spell it out, the code points you toward accepted industry standards like BCSI bracing guidance.

Translation:

You can't just stand them up, eyeball it, and hope Jesus takes the wheel.

And speaking of hurry — we've all seen it. Roof gets framed, somebody notices damage after the fact, and suddenly everyone develops selective memory.

If a truss gets cracked, split, or busted in transport or framing, it needs to go back to the truss engineer for a repair.

Good news is most repairs are actually simple.

Bad news is your 'fix' involving scrap lumber and confidence probably isn't the approved method.

See you Friday.

Hopefully nobody says, 'while we're here…' after 5PM.

— David