How To Set Out Roof Rafters

Gusset to attach two rafters together.

How to set out roof rafters.

The roof rafters provide integral structural support to the roof. Move about halfway down the roof and repeat with a third set of rafters to provide support for the middle of the ridge board. 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. These are used in almost every roof including a gable end roof lean to roof and hipped roof as well.

The rafter assembly is made by using an o s b. For an 8 10 shed one sheet of plywood should be fine. When you re toenailing a screw it s important to pre drill the holes before you begin setting the screws. Depending on the size of the roof most hip roofs will have 4 6 short jack rafters that are spaced out every 20 inches 51 cm between the hip rafters and the king common rafters.

The fourth step in the how to build a shed series this tutorial teaches you the necessary steps to building roof rafters. Use 8 penny nails to tack it together but do not drive the nails all the way in because you may need to make adjustments. Laying out hip valley and jack rafters takes experience and skill but if you re building a simple gable or shed roof all you need is the common rafter the basic building block of roof framing. You are going to cut out triangles that will cover the apex of each set of rafters.

A rafter is one side of the rafter assembly. You are ready to set out and cut the common rafter lengths as soon as the wall plates have been squared levelled and fixed strapped down onto the brickwork. Toenail 3 galvanized wood screws into the lentil. Then pre drill the rafter image 2.

If you aren t using a ridge beam then you ll want to use plywood gussets to reinforce the connection at the apex of each set of rafters. Set the rafter in place carefully allowing for the overhang. For every foot. Once the system is.

Mark and cut the first rafter image 1. Before you cut your boards you ll need to measure the width of your building and calculate the exact length of each rafter. To lay out a common rafter you need the pitch of the roof expressed in units of rise per foot of run in the gable roof example shown here a rafter with 6 in 12 pitch rises 6 in. From cutting the rafter parts out to building a jig and assembling the rafters.

Measure the distance between the angled hip rafter and the top of the wall at 20 in 51 cm increments and cut jack rafters to fit.