Expert: Bruce E. Johnson - 3/5/2010

Question
I am remodeling my living room and was wondering if it is possible to convert my regular queen trusses into scissor trusses without removing the roof or replacing the trusses? I want the ceilings to be vaulted but don't want to buy new trusses or pull apart my house.

Answer
Hi matt, yes it is possible to create scissor trusses out of common trusses.  If you can take a picture of the truss or provide a detailed drawing to a truss manufacturing company they can probably design a fix for you and in many cases do the work.  A structural engineer could probably come up with a workable design also.  There are a couple of ways they do it.  One is to sister new bottom chords on each side of the trusses in question and install new webs at the proper locations.  Another method is to cut the old bottom chords and webs out and reconstruct the truss from the inside.  This second method requires some temporary shoring during the truss reconstruction which is done one truss at a time.  I hope this information helps, please feel free to write again regarding this or other matters, sincerely bruce e johnson..bejohnsonconsulting.com