Why wood roof trusses?

I don't think we're talking about parking in the surf.

totaldla wrote:
Wood rots 100x faster than Aluminum corrodes.

That is not 100% accurate. You have to think of the environment and conditions in which the material is located.

If aluminum is situated in an area close to salt water, for instance, wood materials in the same application may last longer.

Shadow Catcher wrote:
They do not care about quality!

Using roof trusses made of wood has NOTHING to due with quality, or lack thereof.

Houses use wood roof trusses, but no one complains about them being of subpar quality.

Wood rots 100x faster than Aluminum corrodes.

Anodizing is a chemical acidizing process. No heat is required. Used it on airplane parts for years. Etching as well as Primers protect aluminum. I painted with Epoxy Polymide for several years and found it will crystalize and adhere to your lungs. Nasty!

Passin Thru wrote:
Why does Norwood put wood inside aluminum frames?

Most mfg use wood inside aluminum to hold screws in place. Mainly for cabinetry. Screws will work there way out of aluminum.

Passin Thru wrote:
Why does Norwood put wood inside aluminum frames?

I assume so as to give screws an anchoring material.

Why does Norwood put wood inside aluminum frames?

RPreeb wrote:

Gdetrailer wrote:

Metal, takes a lot of energy to produce, you have to dig deep into the earth to mine the ore..

Then you have to haul the ore to the surface..

Then you have to separate the ore from dirt and rock.

Processing ore to usable metals requires serious heat (energy) AND CHEMICALS (rather hazardous stuff).

Metal costs MORE than wood, takes stronger tools to cut and shape, requires GOOD SKILLED LABOR to make best use of it.

As far as "R" value difference as you noted, that comes from the kind of INSULATION AND HOW THICK the insulation is, not the type of "framing".

Some folks feel metal is superior to wood since it is well known that wood rots..

That is not really true, METAL ROTS just the same as wood.

Steel RUSTS and aluminum OXIDIZES (aluminum version of rusting), just add moisture and some salt or dissimulator metal touching it and it WILL corrode!

Too many folks get caught up with the materials hype, buy the floor plan you like and go camping..

No matter what material it is made from it WILL eventually leak..

And it is up to you the buyer/owner to do preventative maintenance to reduce the chance of leaking. Failure to maintain and any RV will ultimately fail.

One comment on this - yes aluminum oxidizes, but that oxide creates a barrier that prevents further corrosion unless there is surface damage. Steel/iron rust just keeps going until there is nothing left to attack.

Well, sort of..

I HAVE seen aluminum OXIDIZE (IE corrode) to the point of nothing left. Come to the rust belt where very high concentrations of deicer (IE salt) is used or go to any place near salt water (ocean) and you will find plenty of aluminum items completely ate away from that combination (I have had to throw away aluminum porch furniture that sat out in winter time on my front porch due to the salt spray from the road thinning the metal!).

In order for aluminum to be stable in that type of environment it MUST be painted OR Anodized..

Anodizing is a chemical and heat treating process which converts the natural surface oxidation layer into a stable surface which does not oxidize any further.

Aluminum also has another problem, it IS highly reactive to other metals like copper AND STEEL.. Contact with steel or copper MUST be avoided at all times and only certain stainless steel fasteners must be used in direct contact..

Otherwise it is a nice lightweight metal..

More important is how is the roof decking attached to the metal or wood trusses?
JMO but if I could I would take a wood truss framed roof with the roof decking glued and screwed to the wood trusses. Personally I don't care for laminated roofs or laminated floors.