How To Build A Shed Roof

How to frame a gambrel shed roof.

How to build a shed roof.

To build a shed roof you ll need rafter boards plywood gusset plates plywood sheathing felt roofing paper and shingles. You will need to build a number of trusses based on the length of your roof. Secure the roof panels with a pair of toenails through each bird s mouth into the top plate of the wall. The images used show a roof that has a 4 in 12 pitch but the pitch can be changed to whatever is on your shed plans.

Preplanning was essential to the build. If you build your own the cost will be about half this amount. Whether you build your own trusses or order them from the lumberyard building a roof with trusses is much easier than framing a roof one rafter at a time. The process of building a shed roof follows a relatively straightforward approach.

This tutorial is designed to walk you through the steps of building a shed roof for a simple gable roofed shed for spans up to 10. Make a birdsmouth notch at the end of each rafter to help it fit into place. I presently have ample space for storage and no squeak or bounce to the floor. Do you want to build a shed that makes a perfect garden shed.

The piers will allow you to string support beams beneath the floor of the shed. Level the ground if necessary and install deck piers along a grid to support the shed. The shed style allowed more windows near the high wall roofline which adds a lot of light. Building a loft in the roof cavity is easy and provides much more storage space than either the gable or saltbox sheds.

A gable style roof is considered to be the easiest type of shed roof framing to work with. In the example design the piers are spaced 6 feet 1 8 m apart in one direction and 4 feet 1 2 m apart in the other for a total grid area of 12 x 8 feet. The saltbox roof design offer lots of character and charm to the backyard. Make sure the 2x4 ridge is perfectly aligned with the peak of the wall.

Slide the roof panels up the roof until the bird s mouths drop over the top plate of the wall. Once you have chosen the roof framing that is suitable for the type of shed roof that you are making then you just need to follow a series of instructions that proceed according to a set plan. The greater roof slope sheds snow and water easily too. Building this single sloped roof shed was an excellent learning experience.

The shed roof is arguably the hardest part a shed to build.