How To Attach Roof Rafters To Ridge Board

Condition was only present on the rear.

How to attach roof rafters to ridge board. The rafters on the rear side of a steeply pitched roof were separating from the ridge board. A ridge board was not always required and the photo above of the attic in a 1920s era house shows a roof framed without one. For 2 x 6 rafters use a 2 x 8 ridge board and so on. A ridge beam carries the loads of the rafters connected to it and must be both strong enough to carry the weight and well supported at the bearing points at each end to transfer the loads down to the ground.

If rafters will sit on top of a ledger attach them with seismic anchors as you would attach rafters to a beam. Where rafter connections will not be visible rafters can be spliced together end to end with board lumber gusset plates to do this butt the ends of the rafters together over a supporting beam. I would suggest you install the rafters in pairs. The ridge board s length will be the outside measurement of the building plus the length of the overhang at both ends.

Remove the braces you made for the ridge board. Choose a ridge board that is one size larger than your common rafters. These connectors attach to the lip of the top plate with galvanized nails through predrilled holes. 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.

Secure each end with one nail on each side. Before you cut your boards you ll need to measure the width of your building and calculate the exact length of each rafter. The roof rafters provide integral structural support to the roof. They work especially well with a lean to shed.

They work just as well to connect rafters to top plates. If you do just one side all the way down then the ridge board can come loose or be distorted from all the hammering in the same direction. Once out of the way you can go ahead and install connectors on the ridge board. As the name suggests these handy connectors are typically used to attach rafters to the ridge beam at the peak of your roof.

For 2 x 4 rafters use a 2 x 6 ridge board. Lift the ridge board to the roof and slide it between the rafter ends on each end from the bottom.