The Scherer Brothers Lumber Company is a building materials

supplier and manufacturer. Scherer Brothers manufacture all of the

trusses that were used in the Landschute residence.

Step 1: PlanThe process of truss integration into the building begins with the architect or a

member of the office. A PDF file containing the building plans of the residence

is sent via email to The Scherer Brothers planning team. The planning team

then goes over these documents to decide how the trusses should be laid out.

Each building is different, and each of The Scherer Brothers planners will lay

out a job differently.

Step 2: DesignAfter the job has been laid out the plans now containing the truss positions is

sent to The Scherer Brothers design team. Here a member of the design team

will design each individual truss. For our residence this process took only a

few hours. Once the trusses have all been designed the completed building

plans, now with all of the trusses are sent to St. Louis where they are approved

by an engineer. Once approved the plans are sent back containing a stamp of

approval. This stamp of approval is not required by law, but it does give an

added sense of security to the client. From here the plans are sent electronical-

ly to the computers on the manufacture floor. Workers on this floor complete

the actual building of the truss, with the assistance of several pieces of

machinery that are run by computers.

Building Element Report: TrussThe Scherer Brothers Lumber CompanyErica Hway and Paige Sullivan

SCHERER BROS. LUMBER YARD

HUNDEGGER SC-1 LINEAR SAW

Step 3: BuildThe truss begins as raw lumber in the Scherer Brothers lumber yard. A work-

er receives the ‘shopping list’ of pieces needed for a job and begins collecting

all necessary pieces, stacking them on a conveyor belt. The conveyor belt is

connected to a large saw which is hooked up to a computer. This saw perfectly

cuts all pieces of wood required for the job.

Workers then take these pieces to the assembly tables. The assembly tables

have lasers hanging from the ceiling above them, which point down to the

table surface and outline the entire truss. A worker then positions and tightens

nuts at all corners and connections of the truss members that are outlined.

This allows for fast and efficient assembly of the truss. Once this is done three

people work together placing all of the truss members on the table in their

designated spots.

In order to securely join all pieces of wood together a special patented steel

tooth connection plate is placed at each meeting of truss members. Each plate

is hammered in by hand slightly to hold it in place before a large steamroller

sweeps over the entire truss, securely fastening all pieces of the truss togeth-

er. The completed truss is now rolled off of the assembly table and grouped

together in the yard with all other trusses required for a specific job, until the

time comes for them to be loaded into a truck and delivered to the job site.

Building Element Report: TrussThe Scherer Brothers Lumber CompanyErica Hway and Paige Sullivan

CONNECTING TRUSS MEMNEBERS

TRUSS MEMBER PLACEMENT LASERS

STEAM ROLLER FASTENING CONNECTION PLATES

Step 4: SetOnce the trusses are delivered on site the construction crew goes to work

setting them. The roof trusses in this residential project were set on 24” cen-

ters, which is typical for this type of building construction. The placement of

the roof trusses occurred just after the house was framed and sheathed. Once

the trusses are in place the roofers are able to work on finishing the roof, while

other crew members finish completing work on the ground.

Building Element Report: TrussThe Scherer Brothers Lumber CompanyErica Hway and Paige Sullivan

IN PLACE TRUSSES

FINISHED TRUSS

IN PLACE TRUSSES