How Far Apart Should Roof Rafters Be Spaced

For light load roofs 24 o c.

How far apart should roof rafters be spaced.

The trusses should be a little longer than the exact width to allow for overhang and you will need sufficient trusses to mount across the length. Spacing your 2 4 shed rafters at 24 on center limits the width of your roof. With this design change roof trusses could be placed 12 feet apart making it possible for roofs to support the loads to which they would be subjected. As a general rule roofs that have a high human occupancy rate should be framed with rafters every 16 structures such as sheds or barns can be frames with rafters every 24 again make sure to consult local codes.

Putting the trusses into place. Most are spaced between 18 26 inches apart. For example in the rafter span table below the highlighted cell in the 40 live load table indicates that 2 x 8 southern yellow pine joists that have a grade of 2 that are spaced 24 apart can have a maximum span of 10 feet 3 inches 10 3 if designing for a live load of 40 lbs ft 2. Measure the section of the roof from the fascia to the peak and divide this by two which is the two foot spacing of the wood nailers.

I ve had roof truss manufacturers try to convince me it is impossible to place wood trusses at spacings of over every 4 feet. Most roof framing is 24 on center and you can still build sheds up to 14 with 2 4 rafters at 24 on center. This post may contain affiliate links. Their defense is our engineers will not allow us to.

For more information see our disclosures here. In this example the section of roof is 20 feet wide and 14. For heavy loads 2x4s can span up to 5. Once you ve calculated the number of trusses you will need you should purchase the lumber.

Or you can get significantly more load or span from 2x10 number 2 on 24 centers. To determine how far apart to set rafters measure the width of the metal panel and then the width of the first hill and valley of the panel. But they do tend to space rafters in one of several industry standard increments typically either 12 16 or 24 inches apart. What is the standard spacing of a roof rafter.

2 4 rafters can span up to 7. Patio roof maximum beam rafter spans. An essential part of planning a patio roof or gazebo project is determining the number size and spacing of rafters beams and posts according to the loads they will carry. If your project had a rafter length of 8 or less a safe and strong method is to use 2x8 framed 16 on center.

Double the hill and valley width since this is the amount that the panel will overlap the one next to it on each side.