Here is a model of the L-shaped hip roof I am in question about:



I'm sorry I can't post a direct link to the model since it is listed on the SketchUp 3D Warehouse which has a link to my website and the tools that I am currently developing.

A confused student is a good student.
Nathaniel P. Wilkerson, PE
www.medeek.com

The reason I am taking so long with complex rafter and truss roofs is the possible permutations is making things very challenging.

For example take the truss roof below:



I'm assuming there are no interior bearing walls and we want to clearspan the entire building outline. I can get the basic roof and truss layout by creating to hip truss sets as primitives but that is where it then becomes very interesting.

As you can see there are two mid-building girder trusses that then catch the mono pitch sub-girders which are each supporting two common trusses. Next to the sub-girders is a small valley set (half valley) that fills in the roof behind the sub-girders.

The largest span is 36', which is reasonable. This appears to be the simplest way to truss this roof out but is probably not the only solution. A good truss technician could tell me how close I am to the optimal solution.

Granted the complex rafter roof is not IMHO as hard a problem but it also has similar difficulties and issues.

Does the way I have this trussed out appear reasonable?

A confused student is a good student.
Nathaniel P. Wilkerson, PE
www.medeek.com

I'd say it's completely reasonable, and is basically like I would do a similar building.