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<font size=3>Friends:<br><br>
Over the years we used all lengths and diameters of lags. We do not
use any of these lags anymore, ever since we discovered the Simpson
1/4"X3" hot dip galvanized strong drive lags. They
require no pilot hole, drive easily with an impact driver and the
inspectors and plan checkers seem to like hearing the Simpson brand name
used on the plans. The 1/4" diameter is less likely to split a
2 by truss.<br><br>
Finding the center of a truss is critical and pilot holes are a necessary
evil. We issue each employee a specific color of lumber crayon with
instructions to circle every pilot hole. They then "own"
that pilot hole and are responsible for sealing it. Hopefully, each
pilot hole ends up under a foot anyway.<br><br>
We use landscape flags to probe pilot holes. The thin wire will
prove if you have hit a truss. If you miss the truss, bend a slight
angle on the wire and rotate it until the end strikes the side of the
truss. Extract the wire and hold it in the same orientation as when
you touched the side of the truss and it will tell you accurately where
the edge is. If someone needs to crawl the attic to put in
blocking, wind the flag tightly around the wire and insert it in the
pilot hole. It will unfurl and mark the spot so it can easily be
seen even in the dustiest attic.<br><br>
William Miller<br><br>
Does anyone out there want to buy a bucket of various size
lags?<br><br>
WM<br><br>
<br><br>
<br><br>
<br>
At 12:28 PM 4/27/2010, you wrote:<br>
<blockquote type=cite class=cite cite>Hi Drake and all,<br><br>
We have had both engineers and inspectors question the use of a 3/8"
4" lag in a 2x4 top chord and I think rightfully so. When we
have a chance to spec new construction we have the architect replace the
2x4 top chord with a 2x6.<br><br>
And when we have to go into 2x4's we either shorten our lag to a
5/16" 3.5" or even 3" (if we can get away with it on the
uplift calcs) so we stay in the top half of the wood fibers on the
truss. We have also sistered or blocked 2x4s when there was
concern.<br><br>
But like Bruce said - I cannot imagine there ever being a problem with a
2x6 with a 4 " lag (only 3.5" of which goes into the wood)
unless you were using 1/2" lags!<br><br>
The real issue is in installation. Installing a lag so that it
glances the side and splits the rafter or hitting a knot and not backing
off could cause problems. So we are really careful in installation
to make sure we are right on the center of the truss - we drill tiny
probes everytime - that's where the real issue is - once engineering is
happy of course.<br><br>
Hope that helps!<br><br>
Jeff Clearwater<br>
Village Power Design<br>
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