How To Stick Frame Roof Rafters

There are two common ways of framing the roof of a house.

How to stick frame roof rafters.

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. While most home builders will outsource the construction of roofing trusses the rafter supports of the roof itself learning to frame a roof yourself is one of the true arts of carpentry and a basic primer is covered below. The rafters are usually positioned directly above the wall studs. A stick framed roof is made up of individual rafters and that are connected to a top beam.

The beam or the ridge is the central part of the structure as all the framing must be connected to it. Before you cut your boards you ll need to measure the width of your building and calculate the exact length of each rafter. Here we have a wood framed gable roof. With premanufactured trusses or with rafters and ceiling joists commonly called stick framing.

Like wall studs and floor joists rafters and trusses are spaced every 16 or 24 inches from center to center. Shed roof framing process explained step by step instructions. 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. Stick framing combines roof rafters with ceiling joists.

The fascia board is the bottom plate and the ridge board the top plate. 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. Framing a shed roof is similar to framing a wall. They ll both result in the same quality when the build is finished each supporting the roof with the same strength.

Continuing on from part 3. Roof framing rafter layout. They can be handmade and installed as needed one piece at a time on site. There aren t many differences between rafters and trusses.

The roof rafters provide integral structural support to the roof. Position the square at the end of the rafter board with the tongue on your left and facing away from you. Most roofs utilize 16 inch spacings for strength and rigidity. Stick to the basics of simplified design and use dimensions that don t generate waste.

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 still prefer stick frame roofing. The image below shows a cross section of our simple 12 x 13 house from the joist span tables section of this tutorial. Let s consider a basic gable wood roof framing design. Additional boards are placed horizontally on the frames to create a complete cover for the structure.

Framing a roof is the last step in framing new construction. 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. Rafter layout with a framing square. Rafters are a good option when building something on a smaller scale such as a shed or a garage.