Is It Better To Truss Or Rafter A Shed Roof

For one trusses come as a pre assembled structure that you need to install onto the shed s frame.

Is it better to truss or rafter a shed roof. Rafter boards are fastened to the ridge board at the peak and the top plate where they join the wall. In finished space insulation is placed between the rafter boards and drywall or other material is fastened to the face. The gable shed has a roof like a house so the roof trusses will have a peak in the middle. Filling it up with truss webwork would make a shed with a gambrel roof virtually unusable unless it is very tall.

In addition to the lean to shed there is a gable shed roof. A 16 2 12 is expensive and if you did your entire roof structure with those you are looking at a seriously large lumber bill. Trusses consist of two lengths of lumber that create the upper edge of the truss a bottom chord that connects the two opposite ends of the top chord and a series of supporting webwork in the middle. The truss sides will be equal in length and width to fit equally on the shed walls.

They won t stay and be a permanent part of the shed. To make your own trusses angle cut the 2 4 pieces for the upper slope to the desired length. Roof trusses 2x4s whereas rafters may use 2 8 2 10 or even 2 12 boards. For starters adding a proper shed roof is more complicated than one might first imagine yet you might not be surprised to learn that trusses are less complicated to use when roofing a shed and install is likely to be easier too.

A gambrel shed roof involves significantly more angle cuts than a gable roof but provides more storage space in the attic. If you have a single sloped shed roof then using 2 6 rafters is a better bet because the price differential won t be huge and your shed roof will have a much greater load capacity. Trusses like rafters form the profile of the structure s roof. If you have a simple gable shed roof then using 2 4 rafters makes more sense unless you have a very large shed.

This roof is more complex because of the two different angles with the roof. If they take up more space then why use a truss. Create a series of 1 3 wood pieces that will be used as stop blocks. Although some gambrel trusses are designed to create an attic space this is a roof style that is much better served by rafters.

The boards creating the slope of the roof are wider than lumber used to build trusses 2x8s 2x10s and 2x12s are most common in rafters vs. Trusses and rafters are materials that make up the roof structure and while they have similarities there are distinct functions that impact your choice of attachment to the top plate. However unlike rafters trusses are pre assembled before being installed. Make one truss replicate it and you ve built a solid system.

These pieces of wood are used to prevent slipping of the rafter off your shed foundation as you assemble your trusses to the shed s roof.