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.
Shed roof rafters 2x4 or 2x6.
Build gables suspend ridge board install 2x6 rafters w proper birds mouths.
The ridge end of the rafter and often the eve end will need to be cut to the angle of the roof slope.
Will 2x4 rafters 24 inch on centre hold up my 8 x 12 shed.
Rafter span tables use these tables to determine lengths sizes and spacing of rafters based on a variety of factors such as species load grade spacing and pitch.
Im building a 8x12 shed.
Sometimes the rafter will have a tail and extend out past the wall so that you have a soffit or overhang.
A rafter or speed square will have marks for both of these angles.
A couple of joists or collar ties further up to stop spreading and you re done.
The roof on this shed is a 4 in 12 slope which makes it a 18 and one half degree angle on the board ends.
Before you cut your boards you ll need to measure the width of your building and calculate the exact length of each rafter.
You then have rafters running down from this ridge board and resting on the top wall plates.
The roof rafters provide integral structural support to the roof.
The roof will have a 3 12 slope to match my garage.
If you re framing a gable roof on a new house or building a shed or even a doghouse with a gable roof you ll need to cut a number of roof rafters.
Builders aren t bound by standard rafter spacing measurements.
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.
2 x 6 will allow you to properly do soffit facia and overhang ladders.
If you have a simple gable shed roof then using 2 4 rafters makes more sense unless you have a very large shed.
But they do tend to space rafters in one of several industry standard increments typically.
Rafter and roof joist spacing is only one part of a complex roof design that works together to form a structure that meets building codes and can hold up the weight of the roof and roof load.