How To Build A Ridge Beam Roof

Yes either a ridge board or a ridge beam is necessary and required by the building code where roof rafters meet at the the center of their span.

How to build a ridge beam roof.

Choose a ridge board that is one size larger than your common rafters. A ridge beam runs the length of the shed roof connecting every pair of rafters. The typical gable roof diagram above shows the r length measured from the outside wall to the middle of the ridge beam the rafter section diagram below typical of a shed or patio cover roof shows the r length measured from the outside wall to the outside face of the ridge beam either one is acceptable depending on which type of roof you are building but if you are using the. Some shed rafters do not incorporate ridge beams either due to small size or lack of technical know how.

The rafters bear most of the weight of the roof. I always always build trusses. The ridge board holds them in place. Now if you have done any looking around this site you ll quickly see that i am not a fan of using a ridge beam in shed construction.

The ridge board s length will be the outside measurement of the building plus the length of the overhang at both ends. Ridge beams are required by code if the roof slope is less than 3 in 12 irc section r802 3. However our instructions include making shed rafters with a ridge beam. Ridge beam sizing is based on the span of the beam between supports and the amount of roof load supported by the beam.

A ridge board or beam runs through the tops of rafters or trusses from end to end along a gable roof tying those framing members together. A ridge board is a non structural member that serves as a prop for opposing rafters to rest against and connect to. Framing in a ridge beam in shed roof construction is not hard. The difference between them is that a ridge beam is a structural member that bears half of the live and dead loads of the rafters on either side of it but a ridge board is not structural.

For 2 x 6 rafters use a 2 x 8 ridge board and so on. One at the envelope of the structure on top of a framed wall or a header the other at the peak of the structure on top of the ridge beam. The ridge beam could also be flush with the joists the ridge beam is typically a larger member like a 4 x 12 and carries the gravity load of the. Its the way i was trained to build sheds.

For 2 x 4 rafters use a 2 x 6 ridge board.