How To Stick Frame Roof Rafters

Here we have a wood framed gable roof.

How to stick frame roof rafters.

Before you cut your boards you ll need to measure the width of your building and calculate the exact length of each rafter. If your project had a rafter length of 8 or less a safe and strong method is to use 2x8 framed 16 on center. This will the first point of the rafter measurement line using the results of your rafter length calculation measure from this point along the rafter measurement. The roof rafters provide integral structural support to the roof.

They can be handmade and installed as needed one piece at a time on site. If you re framing a gable roof on a new house or building a shed or even a doghouse with a gable roof you ll need to cut a number of roof rafters. They ll both result in the same quality when the build is finished each supporting the roof with the same strength. There are two common ways of framing the roof of a house.

Most roofs utilize 16 inch spacings for strength and rigidity. Position the square with both the 8 inch on the outside edge of the tongue and the 12 inch on the blade on the upper edge of the board. The image below shows a cross section of our simple 12 x 13 house from the joist span tables section of this tutorial. Floor beam span tables of residential structural design we will now look at roof rafter and beam design.

Structures such as sheds or barns can be frames with rafters every 24 again make sure to consult local codes. Roof framing rafter layout. Like wall studs and floor joists rafters and trusses are spaced every 16 or 24 inches from center to center. Framing a roof is the last step in framing new construction.

Rafter layout with a framing square. With premanufactured trusses or with rafters and ceiling joists commonly called stick framing. It is always better to have a large rafter rather than be concerned with a sagging roof. The rafters are usually positioned directly above the wall studs.

Position the square at the end of the rafter board with the tongue on your left and facing away from you. Stick framing combines roof rafters with ceiling joists. While truss roofs are the most popular construction style today by some estimates truss roofs outnumber stick frame roofs two to one there are regions of the country where builders. Continuing on from part 3.

From one end of the rafter material using a speed square or framing square mark an x in 12 angle on the rafter and cut it measure down y height from the long point of the rafter cut and make a mark. Rafters are a good option when building something on a smaller scale such as a shed or a garage. This example is for a roof with an 8 12 pitch.