Using roof trusses lets you close in a building quickly and gives you flexibility in placing interior partitions. But except for some data published by the Truss Plate Institute (Madison, Wis.; 608/833-5900), there is little written information on how to install and brace trusses. The few books that do discuss the issue typically show the first truss located directly over the end wall and braced diagonally to stakes driven into the ground. I can give three reasons why you should, or in one case must, support your trusses another way. First, depending on the building's height and the slope of the site, the length of a diagonal brace from the peak of
