"Boss, are you saying that if I used scissor trusses on a building that is 40' wide by 300' long with no interior partitions, pilasters, or any other means of resisting that outward thrust that my walls would be pushed out at the top plates by the trusses deflecting?I always thought that scissors were designed to eliminate this. Wouldn't be the first time. U ready to switch back to your "regular" screen name? Are all the solutions of equal validity? But it mostly does nothing. I met people in dozens of different situations and am pretty good at sizing them up in thirty seconds. There's some logic to doing it either way. Each wall carries 1/4 of the load. Sure I do you people on this board have never grown up. OR you just trust someone you never met before. Even when painted. Upon reading your last post I realized that not only are you off your medication, it also appears as though you are blind. They should be able to show how much deflection the beam has, if it's really maxed out or works easily, etc. If you are desiring a cathedral ceiling without a visible ridge beam, this may be your answer. Teh margin is ten to one. No, you probably don't, but I'll say anyhow.In a 35 year long career in the trades, dealing with all sorts of folks, I have had my instincts refined by experience. (-: The beam calculator is a great tool to quickly validate forces in beams. © 2020 The Taunton Press, Inc. All rights reserved. Great show!! Covers any span and every load with pin point accuracy. He might be just wise enough to folow up on his instincts, but he is looking for a smaller beam when the general consensus is that he is more likely to be neediong a larger one, so my instinct still says that he is looking for what he wants instead of learning to design with what he needs. But I can't say for certain without knowing your local codes and loading requirements. Well, she had cateracts! Tim, did I read that right? That was just the kind of thing I was looking for. I must ahve missed. I think maybe you might be getting ridge board and ridge beam confused. While I can see that in some cases a beam calculation has the potential to get much more complicated than some other structural members, I don't think it is possible to have a simpler case than mine. No problem, it makes teh world go round. Use the drop downs to enter the long rafter, the short rafter, and how many rafters to get reliable results every time for every situation. Give the guy a break. Usually the lumber yards that deal in either Boise or Trus Joist engineered materials have a service agreement with those manufacturers to be able to call engineers with the specifics and get the guaranteed correct specs.I've even asked if they can provide me with an engineer's stamp if required (as with building for others I prefer) and they have had no problem.We have used such services through a local yard with no problem and they will, through the manufacturer's engineering specs, back up their work.I know some people around here that even drop their plans off with the local yards for a complete take0off and analysis. Enter the length of one side and select a pitch. I've given the same thought to several respondents lately. Calculate the volume of concrete in cubic yards by entering the values for the three dimensions in feet and inches. I wonder if there is any significance to the "pig"? He is one of the finer framers around, a man with great integrity who not only knows what he is talking about, but who regularly shares good advice based on his experience. The attitude on other forums is much friendlier. So I confirm it again with another pro. Still being an Az I see. "Girl, don't go away mad. You can push that a bit. If anything they're a little light. Brian,Your post #98 was right after Buck posted #97. I used them for a 16x16 room addition I did last summer and it turned out nice. I don't like you much either, but life goes on. It will rest above a door, so I assume a properly sized header, supported by posts that trace their support to the foundation, is what will be happening there. Maybe I've somehow stumbled into a touchy area with this beam question, I hope so, because if this is how you guys respond to the typical question on this forum then I have to say you need to lighten up. Add that to the don't even think about letting it die syndrome............man, that's some kinda vendetta. To those of you who've responded to my original question, thank you, your responses have been helpful. As for pure lumber take offs? . football games keeping you up to all hours? When I first read your post I thought to myself "is he responding to Jeff calling the guy named "Shaken" on his antics in this thread and others? The glulam has LVL laminated in as the top and bottom pieces, and the rest is sawn lumber? Just out of curiousity, why would you tell him to " Tell them the under-pitch is half of the roof pitch"?