Framing Shed Roof Rafters

A rafter is the frame of your roof.

Framing shed roof rafters.

Difference between a rafter and truss. 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. Attach the end rafters to the wall plates of your shed frame. It rests on top of your wall framing and when done properly serves to keep your shed walls in place while supporting a roof.

Install the gussets on both sides of all the rafters except for the gable end rafters. Use 3 nails for each side. Sometimes the rafter will have a tail and extend out past the wall so that you have a soffit or overhang. Fasten the truss by driving 8d finishing nails at an angle down through the board just above the birdsmouth notch and into the underlying wall plate.

Skillion shed style roof framing the skillion and shed style roofs are framed with a single slope 2 4 or 2 6 or thicker rafters spanning from the low wall to the high wall. The roof rafters provide integral structural support to the roof. Lower the first rafter truss into place at either the front or back of the shed. Before you cut your boards you ll need to measure the width of your building and calculate the exact length of each rafter.

If your project had a rafter length of 8 or less a safe and strong method is to use 2x8 framed 16 on center. If you plan to have eaves to protect the shed walls make sure you add the extra length when measuring the rafters. A stick framed roof uses 2x4 s or 2x6 s or whatever you are framing with but has a ridge board running down the middle ridge line. More specifically it is a beam that goes from the peak of your roof down to the eve.

Place a nail every three inches along the edges of the gusset. Test the rafter assembly by standing it up and lining it up with the edges of the shed floor.