Sheathing Roof Trusses

Roofs are framed with rafters or trusses which are rafters joined by internal braces so they install as a single component.

Sheathing roof trusses.

Roof sheathing or decking is one of those elements. The skeleton of a roof is formed with rafters or trusses generally spaced 16 inches or 24 inches apart from the center of one rafter to the center of the next. Any weight imposed on the end truss is directly transferred to the endwall which transfers the weight to the. There are a few different terms for roof sheathing such as roof decking but sheathing is one of the more popular terms.

Nails size 8b should be installed every 6 inches on edges and every 12 inches in the center area. End trusses close in the end of a building and provide a nailing surface for the upper end wall or rigid sheathing. The roof s sheathing helps to keep the roof trusses or rafters properly spaced and is the strength that holds. Boards used for sheathing range from those with a 4 inch face to 48 inch long plywood sheets.

Most houses contain a weak link in the connection of the roof sheathing to the rafters or roof trusses making them vulnerable to loss of roof sheathing in severe winds but solutions to this. To stabilize the rafters support the roofing material and hold the entire roof together roof sheathing is installed. Start the sheathing at the eaves and work your way up to 1 inch from the peak. Osb is lightweight relatively inexpensive and strong enough to resist bending or breaking should someone walk on the roof.

The trusses and beams of the roof give the roof its initial pitch and structure and then the sheathing is applied so the actual underlayment and roof covering can be applied. A structure s roof truss spacing can vary from every 12 to 24 inches. The number of nails needed for a roof varies on multiple factors such as board face width length and roof truss spacing. Install sheathing perpendicular to roof trusses one slope at a time.

Roof sheathing is a lot more than just flat panels onto which shingles are attached. In the u s roof sheathing is almost always composed of wood usually osb oriented strand board or plywood.