Stick Framing Roof Rafters

The roof rafters provide integral structural support to the roof.

Stick framing roof rafters.

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. Most roofs utilize 16 inch spacings for strength and rigidity. Measure down y height from the long point of the rafter cut and make a mark. With premanufactured trusses or with rafters and ceiling joists commonly called stick framing.

The rafters are usually positioned directly above the wall studs. The beam or the ridge is the central part of the structure as all the framing must be connected to it. Additional boards are placed horizontally on the frames to create a complete cover for the structure. This example is for a roof with an 8 12 pitch.

The image below shows a cross section of our simple 12 x 13 house from the joist span tables section of this tutorial. Here we have a wood framed gable roof. Like wall studs and floor joists rafters and trusses are spaced every 16 or 24 inches from center to center. Stick framing can also produce.

A stick framed roof is made up of individual rafters and that are connected to a top beam. Rafter layout with a framing square. Position the square at the end of the rafter board with the tongue on your left and facing away from you. For stick framed roofs that have horizontal joists rafters rest on the exterior wall plates and slope upward to meet at a center ridge board to form a gable roof.

Floor beam span tables of residential structural design we will now look at roof rafter and beam design. As a general rule roofs that have a high human occupancy rate should be framed with rafters every 16 structures such as sheds or barns can be frames with rafters every 24 again make sure to consult local codes. Before you cut your boards you ll need to measure the width of your building and calculate the exact length of each rafter. Let s consider a basic gable wood roof framing design.

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. If your project had a rafter length of 8 or less a safe and strong method is to use 2x8 framed 16 on center. 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. There are two common ways of framing the roof of a house.

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. Continuing on from part 3.