Stick Framing Roof Rafters

Here we have a wood framed gable roof.

Stick framing roof rafters.

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. 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. 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. Like wall studs and floor joists rafters and trusses are spaced every 16 or 24 inches from center to center.

Position the square at the end of the rafter board with the tongue on your left and facing away from you. The roof rafters provide integral structural support to the roof. Most roofs utilize 16 inch spacings for strength and rigidity. This example is for a roof with an 8 12 pitch.

Additional boards are placed horizontally on the frames to create a complete cover for the structure. Stick framing can also produce. 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. The rafters are usually positioned directly above the wall studs.

There are two common ways of framing the roof of a house. A stick framed roof is made up of individual rafters and that are connected to a top beam. Rafter layout with a framing square. Roof framing rafter layout.

If your project had a rafter length of 8 or less a safe and strong method is to use 2x8 framed 16 on center. With premanufactured trusses or with rafters and ceiling joists commonly called stick framing. 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. This will the first point of the rafter measurement line.

The beam or the ridge is the central part of the structure as all the framing must be connected to it. Let s consider a basic gable wood roof framing design. Floor beam span tables of residential structural design we will now look at roof rafter and beam design. Before you cut your boards you ll need to measure the width of your building and calculate the exact length of each rafter.

Continuing on from part 3. The image below shows a cross section of our simple 12 x 13 house from the joist span tables section of this tutorial.