Rafter Roof Construction

In large buildings where heavy trusses are used the purlins are continuous members that rest.

Rafter roof construction.

Construction of a rafter roof a simple rafter roof consists of rafters that the rafter foot rest on horizontal wall plates on top of each wall. Simple roofs such as a shed or the common gable are fairly easy to construct even without plans if you understand the basics and a little geometry. 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. For simplicity and to prevent error the first thing i do is deduct the full width of the ridge beam from the building width.

In small roofs purlins are inserted between the rafters and nailed through the rafters. This is our ultimate roof rafter guide for people designing and building an off grid cabin or tiny home. The top ends of the rafters often meet at a ridge beam but may butt directly to another rafter to form a pair of rafters called a couple. Typically they stretch from a wall plate to the ridge.

Mark and cut the first rafter ends the first step in building the roof rafters is to cut one rafter board to length with the ends angled properly and then to mark and cut the birds mouth and seat on the rafter. The rafter tail has no considerations for the calculator. There should be no part of the tail that is run wild and will have to be trimmed later. Before you cut your boards you ll need to measure the width of your building and calculate the exact length of each rafter.

1 in. Shed gable hip gambrel and mansard. Learn the 1 rafter design that will guarantee your roof that is safe and strong for years to come. 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.

Each rafter only spans half the width of the building and they start at the face of the ridge beam. It should be laid out entirely with a framing square. In this example 6 ft. Rafters are the sloping beams that support the weight of a roof.

If your project had a rafter length of 8 or less a safe and strong method is to use 2x8 framed 16 on center. The ridge end of the rafter and often the eve end will need to be cut to the angle of the roof slope. Discover the pros and cons to multiple roof designs. Purlins are used in roof construction to support corrugated sheet metal if it is used or to support the sheathing of roofs framed with trusses.

Roofs are framed in five basic designs. Piece by piece rafter roof construction however is still the more common construction method for many buildings.