Blocking Between Roof Trusses

A new provision in the 2009 irc and carried through to more recent versions is the use of blocking panels between roof trusses to connect the trusses to the braced wall panels below if the heel height is greater than 9 for trusses with heel heights less than 15 this blocking can be made of solid sawn dimensional lumber as shown in figure 1a.

Blocking between roof trusses.

As roof pitch is lowered the weight burden on the rafters increases. For low pitch roofs building codes may require larger dimension rafters. Blocking or boundary member. Some may call these wood members blocking and deem them as optional.

Where required by this section blocking between rafters or roof trusses shall be attached to top plates of braced wall panels and to rafters and roof trusses in accordance with table r602 3 1. Preventing rotation is typically accomplished by installing full depth solid blocking along wall top plates between rafters and ceiling joists. Truss heel blocking can function as perimeter blocking of the roof diaphragm however the adequacy of this connection depends on multiple factors the building designer may not assume that prescriptive heel blocking will perform adequately as perimeter blocking for the roof diaphragm. And often in a humid environment.

In my experience traveling across the country observing wood framed construction it was apparent that east of the rocky mountains structural wood members in line with supporting walls between roof framing cease to be installed. Roof trusses shall be supported laterally at points of bearing by solid blocking to prevent rotation and lateral displacement. Rafter blocking is an essential part of the roof framing process in that the blocks provide a stop for ceiling insulation and a continuous surface for the roof sheathing to be edge nailed to. Rotation loads on rafters occur when the roof sheathing is resisting lateral loads perpendicular to the rafter because these loads are actually trying to move the top edge of the rafter sideways.

Each block is 2x4 or 2x6 depending on the size of the rafters and is secured to the top plate.