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I noticed that one of the trusses in my garage ceiling were cut/modified to fit an attic ladder. What can I do to fix this? Thank you.

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Also, plywood sheets were installed for storage. Can I use the area as a storage for things that won’t be too heavy?

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    Where is this building located? Do you get snow? Hurricanes? Earthquakes? Tornados?
    – nobody
    Commented Jun 15, 2022 at 11:38
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    To the OP, you can do anything you want, but marking an answer as ‘accepted’ keeps it at the top of the list.
    – Aloysius Defenestrate
    Commented Jun 15, 2022 at 12:06
  • IDT that four feet of 2x4 header is sufficient to carry the load of the staircase, let alone what compromise it may have had on the roof.
    – Mazura
    Commented Dec 17, 2022 at 4:43

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I am going to disagree with the other answers for this question.

It is not OK to cut a roof truss without consulting either an engineer or the truss manufacturer. The integrity of that truss has been compromised and some of the load from that truss has been transferred to the intact trusses along each side of it. And not extremely well.

Will your house fall down or the roof cave in because of this?

More than likely not.The storage area may cause some ceiling sagging if you load it too much.

I feel a need to answer this question so that others contemplating modifying their roof trusses do not think it is just OK or that it is no big deal.

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  • Thanks for your input. I’m aware that cutting into trusses is never recommended. I wasn’t aware then. My biggest worry was my entire roof collapsing. I’ll definitely keep an eye on it tho. Where do you suggest I go from here?
    – Ball
    Commented Jun 15, 2022 at 4:25
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    I think the most sensible action is to have an actual structural engineer look at this. They’ll be able to analyze the loading and suggest fixes (which will probably be relatively easy). Chopping a truss like that is really bad — if you want proof, call a truss company and ask if you could do what was done.
    – Aloysius Defenestrate
    Commented Jun 15, 2022 at 11:59
  • I’ll definitely be calling a structural engineer to get this right. Will I be able to see signs before my “roof ends up on the floor”? I would like to know what to look at for. Thank you.
    – Ball
    Commented Jun 15, 2022 at 12:48
  • Your roof isn’t going to collapse overnight. I suspect that the bottom chord is in tension, so you might be able to measure some spread at the ends or droop at the ridge. Don’t store anything up there until the engineer gets involved.
    – Aloysius Defenestrate
    Commented Jun 15, 2022 at 13:35

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