How To Make A Cut Roof

These instructions are part of a complete tutorial on how to build a s.

How to make a cut roof.

The ridge cut also called the plumb cut at the top of the rafter the birdsmouth cut which itself comprises 2 different cuts where the rafter meets the building s wall and the tail cut at the base of the rafter. Make a duplicate rafter from the pattern. Mark the location where you ll cut each of the common rafters. A wooden roof truss is a prefab triangular frame that replaces one set of rafters and a joist in traditional stick framing.

Then use your pencil to make a mark at the framing square s 1 ft 0 30 m notch. It is made up of four main parts. The ridge end of the rafter and often the eve end will need to be cut to the angle of the roof slope. Touch up the nail holes by painting over them instead of using wood putty.

Step 3 attach the rafters. The rafter is cut so it sits down onto the wall plate which is in turn fixed down onto the inside skin of a cavity wall. Make one rafter that has the bird s mouth cut in place and extends out past that for your roof overhang test fit it in place and mark it pat for pattern rafter to use in cutting its sisters. There are two basic methods of pitched roof construction.

Two upper cords that make up the peak one lower cord that runs horizontally along the bottom of the triangle and a vertical king post support that runs up through the center. The diagram above shows the components that go into making up a small gable roof. On to the next rafter repeating the steps exactly as before. The ceiling joists span from wall plate to wall plate and are sometimes bolted to the rafters to help stop the ridge.

The first step in building the roof rafters is to cut one rafter board to length with the ends angled properly and then to mark and cut the birds mouth and seat on the rafter. Measure to make sure the rise run and span are correct. In my photo above the green rafter line length is from the plumb cut face or ridge board face to the plumb cut face of the bird s mouth notch. You may wish to test these on the building before cutting the rest of the rafters.

Using a carpenter s framing square mark the angled plumb line with a pencil at the end of a wood plank to find the place where you ll make the ridge cut the cut at the top of the rafter. Then lay the rafters out on a smooth flat surface with a 2 by between them at the ridge line. The ridge is a long board at the top that the rafters are nailed to. Make the final decorative edge cut using a template as before with a saw touch the end up with paint and set in place.

Continue until all the rafters have been secured. When you cut the rafters you ll need to make 3 separate cuts.