Tag: exposed wood trusses

When homeowners look to add style and character to their home, one area that often gets ignored is the ceiling. Generally, when people are redesigning their home they look to frame windows with billowy valances and drapes, cover floors with plush rugs and luxury tiles or coat the walls in colored papers and paints. Often, we spend so much time looking down and around that we forget to look up! But, believe it or not, ceiling height and décor has a lot to do with how comfortable a space is perceived to be. Incorporating exposed, decorative trusses into the height of any room can instantly transform its ambience from echo-y and cold to comfy and warm. When you walk into any room, your senses take into consideration its size and space. Internally, you quickly size up your comfort level in that particular room. For this reason, ceilings are built in different heights and styles. Some are flat and some are pitched. A regular vaulted ceiling, for example, will have 2 asymmetrical sloped sides and create a cozier atmosphere. A cathedral ceiling, on the other hand, will be shaped like an upside down ‘V’, with 2 dramatically sloped sides that come together at the highest pitch point. While cathedral ceilings are hands-down, viscerally impactful and visually impressive, they don’t necessarily offer a cozy room to dine, have a conversation, sit and read, or take a snooze. Adding architectural elements can make the ceiling space less intense and imposing, especially the incorporation of embellishments like attractive wood or faux wood exposed trusses. Exposed trusses are a framework constructed of a combination of beams, columns, braces and sometimes arches. In luxurious wood finishes, like deep espresso, light walnut, rustic oak, and rich mahogany, these structures bring elegance and a touch of intimacy to those soaring overhead spaces. Design plans for exposed trusses go from a basic scissor truss style to the more elaborate arched hammer style truss. Think, rustic Swiss Alps Chalet, stately French country manor or charming Napa Valley winery. So, when you’re in the mood for a room change, don’t forget to look up toward the stars! The natural look and feel of wooden elements like exposed trusses, or even beams, are the best way to dress up that empty, lofty space up in the rafters.]]>

Adapting a Truss Design to Suit Your Style Though thinking about a truss design might evoke images of a rustic space, decorative trusses are extremely versatile and suitable for all styles of homes. With the lightweight non-functional trusses from Volterra that mimic natural wood trusses, you can have the beautiful appearance of trusses in your home without the hassle and labor costs. Their style and color choices make the trusses adaptable to your unique architecture and create a stunning effect in any space. Blending In To achieve the stunning architectural accent of truss design while maintaining a modern feel, paint the trusses the same color as the rest of the room. This is easy with Volterra’s primed (ready for the paint or stain) finish, and even though they’re painted the same color as the room, their unique wooden texture lends them depth and strength. The Huntsman style truss design works well in a modern space because of its simple, minimal beam structure. Natural Warmth Truss design that maintains a natural wood look, color and texture has the ability to be rustic or contemporary, depending on the application. To play up the rustic appearance, incorporate more wood surfaces like walls and flooring. For a more contemporary feel, keep walls, windows and design lines simple and clean. The Aspen truss style, with its arched accents, gives an earthy, lodge-like appearance, while the Sawtooth design adheres to cleaner lines and structure. Flooded with Light In a space filled with windows that allow in ample natural light, truss appearance is anything but heavy. For a grand room with high, arched ceilings, trusses help emphasize the architecture and accentuate walls of windows. Trusses work as a framework around spectacular views and bring balance to a space already filled with sleek wooden surfaces. To achieve a minimal intrusion of truss design, the Catskill style has just enough structure for visibility without a feeling of descending weight. While trusses used to be an essential part of structural support in homes, with Volterra’s decorative truss design options, they can fit in any style home. The lightweight, natural wood look and feel of these trusses add that touch of unique visual interest to your home and lend sophistication, rustic charm or even modern sensibility to a space. Volterra’s extensive selection of colors and textures allows you to find just the right fit for your home, and you can vary your choices throughout the home for a truly unique application. Discover the beauty of trusses from Volterra today.]]>

Decorative truss systems easily fill this space up with its complex design. The truss is a triangular fixture that has been traditionally used to stabilize and hold ceilings and roofs. Since its conception, decorative trusses have been created to serve the aesthetic, rather than the function. These structures are elegant in their size and scale, and the interconnecting beams that compose their form make them respectable feats of architecture. The goal of installing non-functional trusses is that of lavish decoration, adding purpose to wide empty spaces like vaulted ceilings. Within the triangle-shaped body of the truss is a series of beams that interact with one another, sometimes cutting through each other or turning away at angles. Different styles can be chosen, depending on personal taste and preference, and they each evoke a different time period. Some meet and curve away just before touching, while others are symmetrical in going up, down and across the truss. Whatever the style may be, it still fits neatly within the truss and does nothing to affect the overall design. Their angled tops fit neatly into the angled top of a vaulted ceiling, and their sides extend down the angled walls in matching symmetry. Vaulted ceilings and decorative trusses are the perfect pair for elaborate, cathedral-like beauty in a house. Together, these structures create drama and prestige.]]>

decorative trusses. Decorative trusses are exactly what they sound like, taking advantage of the truss’s complicated design and allowing all to see it.   The triangular design of the truss creates a big open space in the middle, allowing lots of room for imagination and creativity. This empty space is often filled by beams that interact with one another in some form. Some take on more simplistic approaches, standing side by side one another in ascending and descending size to accommodate for the triangular shape. Others are much more eccentric, cutting through each other and meeting odd ends of the truss’s interior. Some are of various lengths and don’t even meet the bottom of the truss, instead angling to the sides. Others still circle around in arches. A decorative truss foregoes any functional qualities for the sake of providing buyers and sellers with a unique mechanism that evokes beauty in complexity.   A truss constructed for decorative purposes exists to be seen out in the open for everyone to enjoy. As such, it happens to be a great space filler for ceilings. Vaulted ceilings leave lots of room for furnishing and decorating, but a truss instantly fills up the space in an easy manner. Their nuanced details are the stars of the show, worthy of admiration and a great boost of atmosphere.   These truss systems provide homeowners with endless opportunities for direction and creativity. For more information on the pros of decorative trusses, call Volterra Architectural Products at 602.258.7373 today.]]>

Truss design with decorative trusses can take on many forms and shapes. The beauty is in the details of trusses, and those that serve purely decorative purposes brim with countless possibilities.

The Beauty is in the Details of Trusses

The truss is a triangular structure that traditionally sits between the roof and the ceiling, concealed from the naked eye. Decorative trusses are meant to be out in the open for everyone to see. Within the triangular structure is often a series of beams that interact with one another. This interaction is accomplished through a variety of numerous paths. Some stay apart and go vertically or horizontally across the structure as a whole.

Choose from Different Sizes, Complexity and Styles

Other sets of beams may intersect and meet at opposite ends of the truss. Others still contain beams of many different sizes, connecting with one another to create various designs. Some are simplistic in nature, while others conjure a much more elaborate appearance. Ultimately, it is up to the homeowner to decide what design best suits the rest of the house.

Fill Your Space with Radiance and Drama

Trusses are gorgeous installations for vaulted and arched ceilings. These vast spaces are quickly covered with ornamental mechanisms that start in the middle and stretch their way across both sides of the ceiling. Such elaborate fixtures open up a space with radiance and drama, as if the house were built long ago in another century.  ]]>

Hammered ceiling trusses are a design feature typically reserved for luxury custom homes due to the extremely high costs and intense labor involved with installation of natural wood beams.  Volterra is excited to launch a new line of faux-wood ceiling truss systems that mimic natural wood, and are easy to install and virtually maintenance free.  We are in the process of designing numerous systems which will soon be available, but the sky is the limit when it comes to custom designs.  More information and photos to come!