How Far Apart Rafters For Metal Roof

For roofs that will experience heavy snow or wind and will span the same distance use 2 6 rafters.

How far apart rafters for metal roof.

For roofs that won t experience heavy snow loads a gable roof can span up to 22 with 2 4 rafters. All roof rafters should be identical so follow the same steps to measure the plumb cut tail cut and birdsmouth cut. The spacing between rafters in a given building is part of the engineering calculations that determine the required structure of the roof. If you have a simple gable shed roof then using 2 4 rafters makes more sense unless you have a very large shed.

The typical spacing standards for residential and commercial buildings are about 1 to 2 foot. A metal roof must also allow for some overlap on each side of the panels which will reduce the effective width of the panel. Wider panels allow for greater spacing between rafters. Other relevant factors include the type of wood being used for the rafters the size of the rafters and the load that the rafters need to support.

This translates to seven rows of strips 20 feet long spaced two feet apart or 140 lineal feet of. Depending on the size of your structure you will need to cut several or many more. To determine how far apart to set rafters measure the width of the metal panel and then the width of the first hill and valley of the panel. Repeat the process for your other rafters.

For heavier material such as gage steel the metal roof purlins spacing length could go up to 4 feet.