Flat Wood Roof Framing

Wood vs steel framing.

Flat wood roof framing.

A flat roof has a slope of 1 8 per foot to 2 12. Of course you don t need to live in a modern house to deal with a flat roof. When framing a flat roof you will need to create a slight incline. Yet for historic modern style buildings like this old house s cambridge tv project flat roofs are at the core of the architecture meant to reflect the broad horizontal lines of the natural landscape.

Sizes of joists needed for flat roof construction. Some roofs actually slope in several directions ensuring optimal water runoff. Think of a flattened hip roof. The majority of roofs are framed using wood trusses 1 with a few using wood with steel bracing.

You can do this with a foam layer that exactly fits your roof. The coating material for a slanted shed roof can be varied. However it is also possible to build larger roofs using steel framing. It must be clearly equals to thirty five degrees.

So any timber joists that are used need to be strong enough to support this weight. Old asbestos roofs are often replaced with flat roofs. Framing a roof is the last step in framing new construction. Steel has a much higher cost than wood nearly twice as much for materials.

We re going to use 2x8 lumber to make the roof frame. Flat roofs are always built at a slight incline at least 1 8 inch per foot. It is not ideal for snow or heavy rain but modern materials and proper drainage have helped. As you may imagine there is a fair amount of weight involved here in terms of boards felt etc.

Slate metal tiles shingle and others. At the same time the folded roof may vary in the slant from eighteen degrees. While most home builders will outsource the construction of roofing trusses the rafter supports of the roof itself learning to frame a roof yourself is one of the true arts of carpentry and a basic primer is covered below. If you build a flat roof try to have it slope in multiple directions to drains or gutters.

Flat roofs aren t architecturally logical as rain and snow will shed much more quickly off a sloped roof.