Ridge Board Shed Roof

A stick framed roof uses 2x4 s or 2x6 s or whatever you are framing with but has a ridge board running down the middle ridge line.

Ridge board shed roof.

You may splice two boards together to achieve this length if necessary using a 14 and 1 2 inch block of the same material. Line it up with the top of the truss and nail in place. 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. Type of lumber matters.

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. 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. For 2 x 6 rafters use a 2 x 8 ridge board and so on. 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.

You don t need a ridge beam but you do need a way to keep the walls from spreading. The ridge board s length will be the outside measurement of the building plus the length of the overhang at both ends. For 2 x 4 rafters use a 2 x 6 ridge board. Ridge beam sizing is based on the span of the beam between supports and the amount of roof load supported by the beam.

I can t ever recall seeing a saltbox shed built with a ridge beam or even a gambrel roof shed for that matter. While there are benefits to both only rafters vary in the size of lumber that is used. Remove the spacers in both end wall trusses and put the ridge board in between the 2 gable ends. A proper beam would have a supporting post at each end.

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. You then have rafters running down from this ridge board and resting on the top wall plates. Rafters simply rely on a center ridge beam and the outside walls for support. Leave ridge beam for shed construction page.

For more information about roof framing and how understanding the differences between types of shed roof construction visit my guide to shed roof framing. Ridge beams are required by code if the roof slope is less than 3 in 12 irc section r802 3. Sometimes the rafter will have a tail and extend out past the wall so that you have a soffit or overhang. A ridge board isn t a beam per se.

A ridge board is a non structural member that serves as a prop for opposing rafters to rest against and connect to.