How Far Apart Should Roof Rafters Be Spaced

These spacing intervals are measured on center meaning that the measurement is taken from the center of one rafter s horizontal surface to the center of the next rafter.

How far apart should roof rafters be spaced.

This total span is well within the load capacity of 2 4 rafters but how far apart can we space the rafters. Wider panels allow for greater spacing between rafters. Use these two tables for. A metal roof must also allow for some overlap on each side of the panels which will reduce the effective width 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. While a 2 6 might be nearly double the cost of a 2 4 you can likely space the 2x6s further apart negating the added expense of increasing your lumber width. If you look at our rafter spacing chart you ll notice that 2x4s can span an 8 gap on a 4 12 roof. With this set of specs we are looking at a rafter length of 5 3.

This post may contain affiliate links. 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. 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. 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.

For more information see our disclosures here. An syp 2 6 rafter at 24 o c. 2 6 shed roof rafters are enough for nearly any type of shed a homeowner wants to build.