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Before the fascia can be nailed in place, the rafter tails must be marked and cut to length. The overhang can be easily measured out from the wall. If, for example, the overhang is 12 in. and the fascia stock is a 2x (1 Vi in. thick), mea­sure straight out from the building line Measure […]

Gable-end studs come built into gable trusses, but they have to be cut and fitted on the job site when building a conventional roof so that exterior wall coverings can be nailed on. Often, a 14-in.-wide vent is placed in the gable ends. To accommodate this vent (or other opening), measure over half the distance […]

Rafters cover the joint between ridge sections Ridge board ripped to width of barge rafter in overhang ‘ 2×8 common rafter every 1 б о. c. or 24 in. о. с. If more than one board will be used to make up the ridge, cut the boards so that each joint falls in the center […]

It’s also easy to determine rafter length with a calculator that has a square-root function. Knowing that a2 + b2 = c2 is the key (this is the Pythagorean theorem, the formula for finding the lengths of the sides of a right triangle). If the roof pitch is 4 (a) in 12 (b), then a2 […]

the span. When you know the pitch of a roof plus the true span (measure the span from outside wall to outside wall with a long tape) or the run, you can determine the length of the common rafters. To do this, try using a book of rafter tables (see Sources on p. 198) or […]

Trusses usually come with detailed infor­mation on how to brace the specific type of truss you are installing. These instructions need to be followed care­fully to guarantee that the house will have a strong and stable roof in case of high wind, heavy snow, or earthquake. Don’t try to guess your way through truss bracing. […]

Two 16d toenails into top plate   Two 16d nails into frieze block   Gable-end truss   Joist chord   Frieze block   Metal gusset   the pile, and with the ridge point behind them, walk along the plates to the other end of the house frame. There, they flip the truss over with the […]

Truss roofs are engineered structures built in a factory. They combine the roof rafters (top chord) and ceiling joists (bot­tom chord) into one unit. Wooden braces, called web members, run between the chords, adding strength to the truss. Because of this, trusses can span long distances, bearing only on the outside walls. So rooms can […]

I was in an office-supply house recently when a customer brought in a type­writer for repair. Folks were joking with him, wondering what he was doing with a typewriter in this time of computers. These days, in the world of roof trusses, cutting and building simple gable roofs on site has almost gone the way […]

The saying, "They don’t build them like they used to," is often true when it comes to ceiling joists. And it’s just as well. I have remodeled many an old house that had ceiling joists that were sagging from the weight of time and heavy plaster. If you live in an old house,look at your […]