How To Support Ridge Beam In A Gable Roof

The ridge must support approximately one third of the weight of the roof the other two thirds are supported by the side walls.

How to support ridge beam in a gable roof.

Once the ridge beam has been positioned in place and supported by roof framing members you can determine the placement of a rafter by measuring down from the top of the beam y height and making a mark on the beam. Find the square footage of your roof and multiply this by your. A ridge beam is a structural member used to support the ends of the rafters at the ridge transferring it s loads to posts or gable end walls. Now if you have done any looking around this site you ll quickly see that i am not a fan of using a ridge beam in shed construction.

You will need a roof beam as a nailing surface to support the rafters. Move about halfway down the roof and repeat with a third set of rafters to provide support for the middle of the ridge board. Here s a picture of a gable style shed using a ridge beam. Ridge beams are required by code if the roof slope is less than 3 in 12 irc section r802 3.

Once again you will need to look at your local charts and use your local snow load factor to determine the maximum span for a given wood rafter size. Typically the roof beam is made by nailing together a few pieces of dimensional lumber. The formula for determining the finished height of the ridge beam from the top of the slab to the top of the ridge beam is.