Trussed Floor System with Advantech Decking

I've been building homes for 15 years now and this is by far my favorite floor system! You'll see a 2x4 truss joist system with Advantech 1 1/8" decking. It makes a perfectly flat floor with minimal deflection and a great space to run mechanical systems. In my High Performance Green construction it's critical to run all my mechanical systems in the conditioned envelope of the house and these floor trusses make that possible. Clients love them because Grandma's hutch doesn't rattle when you walk on the floor past it. I love it because I always have a dead flat floor and it uses less resources to produce a better product for my clients. Win-win in my book. Highly recommend you build with a truss floor system. -Matt Risinger

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• Advantech
• Truss Floor Joists
• joist
• Flooring
• Green Building
• Framing

[d1incharge]

We use nothing but 2x12's and 3/4 floor because it saves money. We have had zero complaints about squeeks or softness, we save quite a bit $ for the customer. No sending back one bad truss, and waiting a week for a replacement. No finding one loose gusset, and having to call an engineer. I have even seen concrete poured a few inches off from the plan. Trusses should never be ordered w/out measuring the concrete, when you frame basements, you don't have 2 weeks to wait for a floor system.

[MattRisinger]

@d1incharge Thanks for your comments. I've not experienced the issues with waiting on Truss packages but I agree that traditional 2x materials have more "give". I can also say from experience that a trussed floor is much easier on your back than a concrete floor. On many jobs we create a sleeper system with airspace on top of our slabs so that hardwood floors feel like traditional installations. -Matt Risinger

[d1incharge]

Stiff floors are hard on a back. Yeah, certain furniture will rattle, but I prefer as soft as code will allow, because it feels so good on my back and framers joints. Trussed floors make the house even taller, means there are added costs on siding, osb, wiring, plumbing, insulation, more stairs and more. It is a tiny amount extra, but the costs are there. I designed my house around a 2x10 floor system and saved thousands total vs. trussed floor. But it makes drawing a floor plan much tougher.

[MattRisinger]

@d1incharge It's been a while since I built a house with 2x joists but I do remember that clients weren't at all happy about grandma's china cabinet rattling when they walked by. -Matt

[toology55]

I would still use screws, using nails with 1 1/8" advantech is like getting a Porsche and using cheap tires.

[MattRisinger]

@toology55 Can't argue that. Heavy glue bead on the 2x4 trusses and nails has been bulletproof so far. Screws is one notch better.

[diverthom]

We use 24" floor trusses but they are designed when the house is designed. The webs all line up, the duct chases all line up perfectly. If you put in the effort to design in the chases get them lined up perfectly, the HVAC guy has a much easier job and he does a much better job.

We show each truss on the plans, designed to show the duct chase(s). The floor framing plan shows the duct chase location so individual trusses are not installed end-for-end backwards. 

[BigBoyTroy1000]

this is all we use in Canada Its way fast have floor finished in one day

[d1incharge]

Most of the builders we have seen using trusses, use them to save money on the framer. Any doofus can frame up a trussed house, so they just buy trusses and hire a doofus. Back in the day, my old man could figure a floor or roof in a matter of minutes with a slide rule, now everybody uses some office jockey engineer. You are VERY lucky to have never sent trusses back. I would bet if you ever put 20-30 houses in the dirt per year, you wouldn't be so lucky with them.

[d1incharge]

@MattRisinger You can make 2x floors too stiff, or too weak.You don't need a different type of joist to get rid of the china cabinet issue. Trusses- the only place in a house you will see #3 lumber.One gang nail comes loose, the whole truss is shot, or has to be repaired and stamped by an engineer(most framers will just hit them back on with a hammer and hope for the best)You should bring up the "goods" and "bads". Maybe its personal because of how much blood they have taken from me. damn metal

[d1incharge]

@MattRisinger Different strokes for different folks I guess. We would usually run a stiffer floor in dining rooms and kitchens for tile, the living and bedrooms are where I like them soft. Other than being good for the back, you can wwf with your relatives on a drunken holiday and nobody gets hurt :) I wish I was kidding.

[d1incharge]

@toology55 You can always tell a bad framer when you see them using screws. The fastner is ONLY there to hold it down until the glue dries. I just bid a house that had screws and more squeeks than I have heard for years, the homeowner thought spending the extra time and money on screws was a good idea.............he was wrong. Glue is 100 times stronger than any fastner, if you mess up the glue or try to put the glue down on wet or frozen days your floor will squeek, regardless of the fastner.