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 of the typewriter. Nevertheless, I still love the challenge of cutting and building (we call it stacking here on the West Coast) conventional stick-built roofs, whether the roof is a simple gable or a complex one with many different ridges, hips, and valleys coming together from every direction.
Now, of course, even the most complicated roof can usually be made by a truss company and shipped to the site ready to install. Trusses are labor-saving devices, and when you raise a truss in place, you are installing a ceiling joist and a roof rafter at the same time. Another nice part about working with trusses is that they are made from lightweight, kiln-dried lumber, so they’re lighter, easier to handle, and friendlier to the back. But be careful of the metal plates or gussets that hold trusses together. These are very sharp.
The main challenge in building most truss roofs is working high off the ground. An experienced carpenter can work off the ground like a space walker, often standing on a wall plate that is only ЗУ2 in. wide. Most of us can also learn how to do this, but as a beginner, go slow, take your time, and be careful. With practice, it becomes easier. If being up high on a wall is scary, work off a ladder or a scaffold and follow the safety guidelines on p. 123.
Where I live on the Oregon coast, simple gable roofs are found on about 70% of the houses, including mine. Other roofs aren’t quite so simple, but like learning to walk, learning to build a simple gable roof is the first step toward building those more complicated ones. What follows are guidelines for building a simple gable roof, both with trusses and with conventional framing.
