Structural PHOTOS

Attic Access photos should contain some context of location such as a step back showing its location within the home.
- There’s no need to get more than 1 or 2 photos of this entrance.

PHOTOS OF EACH ROOF STRUCTURE

2. If you are unable to venture into each section of the attic by foot to clearly document each roof structure in context, make sure to get a few 360 photos to provide the needed context for the series of photos.

2 | MEASUREMENTS

MEASUREMENTS WE ALLWAYS NEED

For most projects, these are the only two measurements we need:

The top chord (truss) or rafter size
The spacing between top chords/rafters

3. Always get 360 photos in any attic space:

When there are multiple attic spaces that are not connected, you will need to get a 360 photo in each attic space.

We will need the length from the eave to the ridge for every roof section.
- Note that for equilateral roofs, just measure the roof on one side of the ridge to be more conducive with your measurements and save time.

MEASUREMENTS WE DON'T USUALLY NEED

DO NOT get the following measurements unless you are within the city of Portland, OR or if specifically instructed to in the survey notes:

Ceiling joists
Knee Walls, kicker supports and purlins
Webbed members (trusses)

VAULTED CONVENTIONAL FRAMING MEASURMENTS

Vaulted roofs will require a poke hole test to verify the framing info.

Use a stud finder to get the spacing.
Use a solid wood or metal dowel and mark the penetration depth,

Make sure your photos clearly indicate the methods used for measurements and clearly show the final measurements without any room for doubts. Context is everything.

make sure to include the surveyed member size from the poke hole test in your survey notes.

Alternative methods of measuring rafter size would include:

Removing a recessed light to complete a normal measuring tape measurement.

Measuring the size of the vaulted members from the exterior at the eave if they are exposed.

VAULTED FRAMING ATTIC ACCESS

Always look for attic access to apparent vaulted sections:

some types of trusses such as scissor trusses can be used to create a vaulted ceiling on the interior of the home but will still count as trusses for design purposes and will be much easier to design on for engineering purposes.
Some vaulted conventional framing may still have a partial attic where you can get a more accurate look at the framing and get a more accurate size and spacing measurement.
- You may also be able to identify beams or other structural members that might be hidden beneath the sheetrock of the ceiling.

This is an example of scissor trusses that do have a small attic access. Always try to access the framing directly if you can to get good photos.

In some cases, trusses might be fastened to another type of framing that spans over vaulted sections. This could be:

TJI (as seen to the right)
Typical Rafters

Make sure to document ANY change in framing over vaulted sections.

BEAMS AND OTHER HORIZONTAL SUPPORTS

Note that this will include true purlin/beam members on the roof as well as those that appear to be false(decorative) purlin/beam members:

Provide photos of the max rafter span measurement.

For this, you will measure the max distance between supports in a horizontal line.
- See example below. The measurements you need are the horizontal green lines.
It is optional but preferred that you also complete a side view sketch showing these horizontal supports to scale.

ALWAYS MARK VAULTED SECTIONS ON YOUR REFERENCE MAP.

FLAT ROOF FRAMING MEASURMENTS

Just as with vaulted roofs, most often this will require a poke hole test to verify the framing info.

Use a stud finder to get the spacing.
Complete a poke-hole test to get the rafter size.

Make sure your photos clearly indicate the methods used for measurements and clearly show the final measurements without any room for doubts. Context is everything.

FLAT ROOF FRAMING STRUCTURAL SUPPORTS

Most flat roofs do not have the same types of structural supports found in conventional attics. Most often, a flat roof will be lying directly over load bearing walls which can be used in engineering to help with structural calculations:

Make sure to get dimensions for all interior walls of the home.
Also measure any apparent beam.
Always make a load bearing wall sketch for all flat roof types.

For more info on Load Bearing Wall Sketches click here.

3 | SPECIAL CONSIDERATIONS

HORIZONTAL TRUSSES

Make sure to document any trusses that run horizontally such as the examples below:

Indicate where these horizontal trusses are on the reference map in some way:

Using google maps, drop a pin on each of these roofs indicating that the trusses are horizontal

CONVENTIONAL FRAMING

On conventional framing, make sure to get photos of any structural supports and pan from front to back to indicate how consistent the supports are.

4 | DAMAGE

Get up close on any damage in the attic.
- Try to give context for where the damage is located within the attic.

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