Ridge Board Shed Roof

A ridge beam carries the loads of the rafters connected to it and must be both strong enough to carry the weight and well supported at the bearing points at each end to transfer the loads down to the ground.

Ridge board shed roof.

Cut to the ridge board to the length of the shed dimension b and mark it 24 inch on center. I can t ever recall seeing a saltbox shed built with a ridge beam or even a gambrel roof shed for that matter. Ridge beams are required by code if the roof slope is less than 3 in 12 irc section r802 3. Leave ridge beam for shed construction page.

You then have rafters running down from this ridge board and resting on the top wall plates. A proper beam would have a supporting post at each end. For 2 x 6 rafters use a 2 x 8 ridge board and so on. As a reminder please don t forget to add height of rafter thickness of roofing material and ridge vent to the number that you ll get using our calculator.

In part 3 of our roof framing series we cover how to select a ridge board how to layout a ridge board how to mark it so you know where to fasten the raft. A ridge board is a non structural member that serves as a prop for opposing rafters to rest against and connect to. Type of lumber matters. A ridge board was not always required and the photo above of the attic in a 1920s era house shows a roof framed without one.

Come to think of it the only style shed i can see that would be easy to use a ridge beam is the gable style shed. Line it up with the top of the truss and nail in place. If your goal is to only calculate the roof height do not enter any numbers in wall height field and only use building width and roof pitch fields. While there are benefits to both only rafters vary in the size of lumber that is used.

A ridge board isn t a beam per se. Rafters simply rely on a center ridge beam and the outside walls for support. You don t need a ridge beam but you do need a way to keep the walls from spreading. Ridge beam sizing is based on the span of the beam between supports and the amount of roof load supported by the beam.

For more information about roof framing and how understanding the differences between types of shed roof construction visit my guide to shed roof framing. It s often just a nice way to bring the rafters together. For 2 x 4 rafters use a 2 x 6 ridge board. The ridge board s length will be the outside measurement of the building plus the length of the overhang at both ends.

You may splice two boards together to achieve this length if necessary using a 14 and 1 2 inch block of the same material.