How To Set A Roof Ridge

Determining the ridge beam height.

How to set a roof ridge.

The ridge board must be set as perfectly as possible so take your time and use careful measurements. Rafters and a ridge board are the key components of a roof framing system. 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. In addition to the horizontal ridge a hip roof has sloping ridges or peaks where adjacent roof planes meet.

Because a ridge beam often carries a significant area of roof load they can exhibit structural distress due to a defect in wood impact on the roof or use of an undersize beam. The ridge beam shown below at the living room of a 1950s modern style ranch house in gainesville has cracked at mid span and is slowly heading towards failure after the crack opened further after a recent repair. The ridge cap the course of shingles on the very ridge of the roof can be made from available 3 tab shingles. It works just like a ridge board but is set at an angle.

The ridge board runs the length of the building and provides support for the tops of the rafters helping the whole roof structure work together as a system. The rafters support the sides or slope of the roof. Instead it has an additional roof plane at each end of the central horizontal ridge. To set the height of this temporary ledger i inserted a short cut off piece of the ridge with the ventilation packer into the slot at the top of each gable before nailing the ledger in place.

If you know the slope x in 12 you want to use for your roof framing design you can use it along with the run r to determine the height of the ridge beam for example if the slope is 4 in 12 and the run is 12 feet the ridge beam height m will be 4 feet. This ridge is created by what is called a hip rafter. The ridge board forms the peak and ties the rafters together side to side and end to end. Other elements like gable studs and cross ties supply additional bracing.

There are some simple techniques to follow when attempting this project. Two simple cuts create three pieces that can be used to finish the shingle project.