Roof rafters with your own hands: Instruction and Video

The roofing system is the foundation of the roof, the reliability and strength of the roof, its ability to withstand rainfall and wind depend on it. The design of the rafter system is determined by the shape of the roof and the features of the layout of the house, as well as the materials used. The rafter system, built by own hands, is usually made of wood, but it is possible to use other materials, for example, a metal profile.

Types of rafters and their application

The choice of the rafter system is a crucial step requiring knowledge of the design of each roofing type. The rafters can be:

1. The roof rafters, based on the ridge run and the Mauerlat. They are used in the construction of a single-pitched, simple gable roof, as well as one of the elements of the hip and broken roof mansard.
2. Sliding rafters - a kind of layered rafters, used for wooden buildings, which give a big shrinkage. Their difference is the sliding fastening of the rafters to the Mauerlat, which makes it possible to compensate for the shrinkage of the walls without deforming the roof.
3. Hanging rafters - a system of rafters, tightened bolts or puffs, is usually used in the construction of a simple gable roof, as well as the roof rafters of the roof skylight. In the suspended rafter system, ridge run is absent, and in the upper part symmetrical rafter legs rest directly on each other.
4. Cantilever rafters, otherwise called angular or diagonal. They are used to make a three-slope or four-slope roof, as well as for a roof with complex geometry.

Elements of the roofing system

Any rafters are designed to distribute and transfer roof load to the walls of the house. The main elements on which the rafters rest are:

• Mauerlat - bar, fixed on the upper plane of the walls along the perimeter of the whole house;
• Lying - supporting bars laid on internal load-bearing partitions or columns;
• Floor joists for the upper floor;
• Racks and supports;
• Runs are horizontal support elements laid along the roof axis on the posts.

A trussed truss consists of the following elements:

• Rafting legs - boards or joists forming a roof contour and laid with a certain pitch;
• Tie or bolt - horizontal elements, pulling together the pair of rafter legs between each other;
• Braces - supports, placed at an angle and supporting rafter legs;
• Lappings - boards fixed to the lower end of the rafters and forming roof overhangs;

Narovniki - short rafters resting on diagonal rafters in the hip roof.

All these elements in private construction are usually made of wood - a bar or a board of conifers, dried naturally. The wood is impregnated with an antiseptic, which allows to prolong its service life. The thickness and cross-section of the elements are determined by the calculation.

ridge sawmill technology

1. Prior to construction, it is necessary to perform a sketch of the roof and calculate its dimensions. Section and step rafters, as well as the need to install additional supports and struts are also determined by calculation.
2. Lay and display the supporting elements: Mauerlat, Legs and joists, racks, ridge and intermediate runs. Details of these operations are described in the articles on various types of roof:
   • Single-pitched roof;
   • Gable roof;
   • Tilted roof;
   • Four-high roof;Attic roof.
3. Manufacture a rafter pattern. To do this, take a board with a width corresponding to the estimated length of the rafters, with the same width, but with a smaller thickness - it is lighter and easier to accurately fit in place. The board is applied to the installation site of the outer rafters with one end to the ridge run, the other to the mauerlat.
4. At the top of the template, mark the top hole. The shape of the saw should be such that the board rests on the ridge run and at the same time snugly adjacent to the opposite rafters. The depth of the saw should not be more than 1/3 of the width of the board.
5. After sawing the top saw, the template is again applied in place and the bottom saw is marked - it should rest on the Mauerlat, leaving no large gaps. The end of the template is sawed at an angle so that the cut is in the vertical plane.
   

   Connection scheme for the Mauerlat with the

6. rafter foot. The resulting pattern is applied at the installation site of all the rafter legs, checking whether a fit is necessary in place. If the template is ideal( which is rare), you can immediately make the necessary number of rafter legs. If it is necessary to correct the lower cut, then only the upper part of each rafters is cut out according to the patterns, and the bottom one is made each time in place.
7. The rafters are stacked with a set pitch. Usually it is from 50 to 120 cm and depends on the type of roofing, namely, on its weight, and on the expected snow load. The heaviest coatings are slate and ceramic tiles, but they are rarely used today. More often the choice is made in favor of more modern, light and reliable materials: metal, ondulin, soft roofing. For them, the rafter step can be selected about 100 cm without performing complex calculations.
8. First install rafters from the side of the pediments. The rafter leg is supported by a ridge run and a mauerlat and fixed to two nails 100-150 mm in each fastening point. Having established a rafter pair, additionally fasten it: in the top part by means of overlays from metal and саморезов from one side and corners with an edge of rigidity with another, in the bottom part - скобами or also on corners.
   

   Guide to fastening the rafter to the Mauerlatu

9. After installing the rafters from both pediments of the roof between them pull the string and level the rest of the rafters over it. Fastening of the rafters is similar.
   

   Fastening the rafters

10. Set the struts, if required by the calculation results. The struts are made of the same material as the rafters. Apply a board of a suitable length at the right angle to the rafters and mark the bottom hole. It is important to consider what the hinge will rest on: on the floor beam or on the door, the shape of the lower cut depends on this. After the lower cut is performed, the bobbin is put in place and a cut line is marked on the rafters. The prepared hanger is placed between the beams and rafters and fixed with metal pads or corners.

Technology of hanging rafters

1. Install Mauerlat and joists. Hanging rafter system does not have vertical and horizontal supports, so you do not need to set racks and runs. For convenience, mark the center of the roof, along which the horse will pass, with the help of timed boards nailed to the center of the pediments. One edge of the board should indicate the center of the roof. On the boards mark the height of the roof on the ridge.
2. Run the template. To do this, the board is applied with the lower end to the Mauerlat, and the upper one to the elevation of the roof. Mark the upper fillet along the edge of the board, indicating the center of the roof, and the bottom, according to the Mauerlat, not more than 1/3 of the width of the board. Apply the pattern on both sides, clarifying the symmetry of the rafters.
3. The required number of rafter legs is made according to the pattern. They put them in pairs. Two rafter legs forming a truss are placed with the top slices to each other and fastened with a metal lining or a kerchief from the board to screws or studs. The lower part is fixed to the Mauerlat on the corners and screws and nails.
   

   Technique for hanging rafters

4. Set the pins( crossbars) - boards of the required length, pulling together the rafter legs and not allowing them to move apart. The number and height of the crossbars are determined by the calculation and design of the roof, they should not interfere with the passage through the attic, if there is planned to do a dwelling or a warehouse. Fastening of puffs is carried out on studs. This is how all the trusses are installed, supporting them with the help of the slopes.
   

   Methods of fastening the rafters to fastenings

Technology of making hip diagonal rafters

1. Since the rafters for the hip roof are installed diagonally, the usual ways of fixing them are not suitable. In addition, the load on the diagonal rafters is much higher than for layered or hanging rafters, so the material for their execution should have a larger cross section. You can use a beam thickness of 100 mm, but practice shows that it is more convenient to perform these rafters of two stacked and fastened boards of standard thickness.
2. The diagonal rafters are supported by the upper end on the racks, the lower ones on the converging at right angles the beams of the Mauerlat. They are marked in place, and their main feature is that the notches are not perpendicular to the plane of the board, but at an angle of 45 degrees. When performing rafters of hardened boards, first one side with oblique cuts, then the second one, in the mirror image.
3. Boards are pulled together by self-tapping screws, nails or studs. Fasten the hipped rafters with linings and self-tapping screws.

self-cutters. It's better to understand the basic tricks of erecting a truss system with your own hands, video will help.

When performing any roofing system with your own hands it is important to carefully fix all the nodes and connections and remember that the roof is the main protection of your house from bad weather. Therefore, it is important not only to make a qualitative skeleton, but also to choose a suitable roofing material, for example, corrugated board, and properly lay it.