How To Build A Cut Roof

If you re framing a gable roof on a new house or building a shed or even a doghouse with a gable roof you ll need to cut a number of roof rafters.

How to build a cut roof.

The seat rests on top of the wall that you re attaching the particular rafter to while the shoulder cut parallels the wall and allows several inches of each rafter to overhang the roof. The ridge is a long board at the top that the rafters are nailed to. The rise or height of the roof at its peak is the altitude of the triangle. Robin is working on an extension so we thought we d shadow him for the day and see how he creates a pitched roof or semi pitched roof leading up to a flat.

There are two basic methods of pitched roof construction. A horizontal cut called the seat cut and a vertical cut called a shoulder cut. The framing of a basic gable roof is based on a right angle triangle and the various roof framing components fit the triangle. A birdsmouth cut has 2 parts.

Pitched roof construction. The ceiling joists span from wall plate to wall plate and are sometimes bolted to the rafters to help stop the ridge. The run or half the building span is the base of the triangle. The roof rafters provide integral structural support to the roof.

Before you cut your boards you ll need to measure the width of your building and calculate the exact length of each rafter. And the line length measurement from the roof peak to the building wall is the hypotenuse.