Some Guy wrote:

You could rent a lot of storage space or buy and build a small
storage shed for the same amount of money.


If you're a half decent carpenter and you throw enough 2x4's at it,
you'll probably end up with something stronger than you started with.

If you use 1/4 bolts with fender washers and (or) #12 or #14 wood
screws and pre-drill the holes (and not nail anything together) you'll
have something stronger than the existing framework.

I bet your existing wood is full of splits because of the hack job
that is usually done when cutting rafters and pounding over-sized
nails in.

Do yourself a favor and make sure each and every rafter space is
ventilated out to your soffit overhang. Don't stuff the insulation in
there - let it breath.

I have to add my professional opinion that this is very bad
advice. There is no way that I would give any advice on
modifying trusses where the work is going to be done by
someone I don't know, much less without even seeing the
situation in person.

Trusses are built with enough strength to hold up what they
are designed to carry and no more. Even storing stuff on them
is considered to be forbidden by the engineers that I use.
One of my PEs will not sign off on a job if there is decking
down on the trusses because he knows that something is going
to eventually be stored there and he will NOT let you leave
it. For him to sign off on the job, decking must be removed
except where it is necessary to access equipment.

The thought of modifying trusses is not a scary thought to me,
because I have done a lot of work that involved modification
and I have worked with a lot of engineers on what to do, and I
have 30 years of experience in construction. The thought of
advising someone else on doing it sends chills up and down my
spine.

Like the time I went to look at a job where the garage trusses
were failing and looked in the attic to see ENGINE BLOCKS
stored up there! I got the heck out of that place as fast as
I could.

--
Robert Allison
Rimshot, Inc.
Georgetown, TX