Roof Without Ridge Board

Rafters and a ridge board are the key components of a roof framing system.

Roof without ridge board.

This article describes and illustrates the different types of support that prevents roof sagging and wall bulging at buildings including definitions of collar ties rafter ties and structural ridge beams. You don t need a ridge beam but you do need a way to keep the walls from spreading. You may splice two boards together to achieve this length if necessary using a 14 and 1 2 inch block of the same material. A ridge beam carries the loads of the rafters connected to it and must be both strong enough to carry the weight and well supported at the bearing points at each end to transfer the loads down to the ground.

If you re using a roofing calculator press the pitch button to input the pitch ratio in the calculator s memory. A proper beam would have a supporting post at each end. The ridge board forms the peak and ties the rafters together side to side and end to end. The engineer has designed this exposed roof to have the rafters meet up at the top and have cats or brace boards installed in place of ridge board in between rafters.

If the roof rises 7 inches 18 cm for every 1 foot 0 30 m its pitch would be written as 7 12. It s often just a nice way to bring the rafters together. To learn more about roof structures go to our home inspection blog at. A ridge board isn t a beam per se.

For 2 x 4 rafters use a 2 x 6 ridge board. Other elements like gable studs and cross ties supply additional bracing. Some of these can support the roof and prevent ridge sagging and wall spreading. A ridge board was not always required and the photo above of the attic in a 1920s era house shows a roof framed without one.

A ridge board is a non structural member that serves as a prop for opposing rafters to rest against and connect to. Roof framing without a ridge board hey i was wondering if any of you have ever actually framed a roof before without a ridge beam. The rafters support the sides or slope of the roof. Also measure the length of half of the roof from one side of the ridge beam to the edge of the building.

For 2 x 6 rafters use a 2 x 8 ridge board and so on. Ridge beams are required by code if the roof slope is less than 3 in 12 irc section r802 3.