Despite its simple, uncomplicated design, pitched roofs are in demand, rational, especially for suburban housing construction. Roofs with a single slope are also massively used for arranging garages, house buildings, farm buildings. About how to erect a shed roof with your own hands step by step, you will learn below. Multi-pitched roof options are complex in design, and one-pitched roofs can be done with your own hands, since it is, in fact, a rectangle that is located in one plane, has no bends. By the way, by the way, it will take you much less building materials than any other, it will be more resistant to seasonal manifestations (snow, wind, rain).
Construction of a garage with a pitched roof, photo:
Advantages of a shed roof:
- light weight;
- comparatively acceptable total cost;
- affordable, uncomplicated installation process;
- the possibility of using various building materials (roofing, rafters);
- affordable arrangement of the drainage system, chimneys.
Despite its simplicity, a pitched roof can be very creatively beaten in design decisions. The angle of its slope directly depends on the climatic characteristics of the region where you live. If snowy winters are usual for you, then the degree of slope should be greater (so that the snow slides better), if your house is located in a windy place, then the slope should be made smaller. For the same reasons, the slope of the roof should be directed in the direction opposite to the facade, so that the precipitation “leaves” the house.
The shed roof is of a ventilated and non-ventilated type. The first option is used for residential buildings, the slope varies from 8 to 25 degrees. In such cases, air exchange is ensured by the insulating layer and special openings located on the sides of the roof.
The non-ventilated option is often installed on garages, sheds, extensions to the house, the angle of inclination is mostly small - 3-6 degrees.
A house with a pitched roof - the choice of roofing material
The calculation of the schematic drawing of the future home begins with the determination of the required angle of inclination and a suitable covering material for the roof. Most often, for such single-pitched constructions, corrugated board, metal profile, roofing material, tile, slate, metal tile or ondulin are used. Soft tiled or ruberoid coating is optimally suited for very small slopes - from 5 to 10 degrees. Slate with corrugated board is more suitable for "average" indicators of the angle of inclination - from 20 to 30 degrees. For a metal tile, a slope of at least 35 degrees is required.
The choice of roofing material is determined by its ability to interact with precipitation and timely remove them from the surface. For example, with slate, decking, roof tiles, snow comes off much easier.
How to make a pitched roof?
To erect a do-it-yourself type roof with your own hands, you will need a standard set of construction tools, the necessary building materials. Wood materials (lumber) must be of proper quality with a maximum humidity of 22%. It is recommended that all wooden materials be pre-treated with antiseptic agents (for example, from the Drevotex series).
In addition to everything you should have in stock fasteners: crossbars, struts, struts.
The crossbar is a horizontal part that acts as a support for load-bearing structures, it distributes the load of the rafters to other beams.
Spacers - a type of supports that are located in the spans, provide greater stability of the entire structure.
Braces are beams that act as supports of the rafter system.
Shed roof, photo:
You must have:
- wooden beam with a section of 100 × 150 mm;
- laying boards (thickness at least 5 cm);
- rafters;
- thermal insulation materials;
- waterproofing materials;
- construction tape;
- tools (ax, saw, hammer, special knife, plumb, screwdriver, tape measure, construction stapler, level).
The rafter system will entirely depend on the size of the future house and the building material from which the walls were erected. Rafters are always installed on the Mauerlat, if the building is small and the span does not exceed 4.5 meters, then the scheme of the rafter system of a shed roof will be extremely simple. It will consist of a main Mauerlat beam and a rafter support. If it is not the small dimensions of the structure that are supposed, but the span is more than 6 meters, the installation of reinforcing sub-rafter legs with your own hands is simply necessary.
The rafters must be installed in accordance with the building rules so that after several years of operation the consequences do not appear. Do not forget about safety rules - install on the rafters reliable, strong temporary boards on which you will move during the construction process.
The workflow involves the following steps:
- Laying transverse rafters. They are attached to the Mauerlat. This basis is what the emphasis of the rafter system is on. The distance between the rafters is approximately 60-80 cm. Here you will need large nails (or anchors).
- A lath is attached to the rafters (it is made of wooden slats 50 by 50 cm), it provides rigidity, the roofing material is laid directly on it. The crate is placed at a right angle.
- Using a construction stapler, a waterproofing material is attached to the crate (ordinary plastic film is suitable for these purposes). Fastening is done without tension, but with an overlap from bottom to top.
- It is the turn of thermal insulation (for example: mineral wool, fiberglass, balsatic mats).
- Laying roofing material according to its individual characteristics.
Do-it-yourself roof
Let's take a step-by-step look at the entire construction process:
- Since the Mauerlat is a support for the entire system, its main function is to ensure that the total weight of the roof is equally distributed over the main load-bearing structural parts. For these purposes, it is necessary to choose a bar of at least 10 × 10 cm, which is installed directly on the supporting walls. Between the wall masonry and the timber there should be a layer of roofing material. The larger the slope angle, the thicker the Mauerlat beam should be.
Do-it-yourself installation of the Mauerlat should be taken responsibly, it is imperative to use the construction level (horizontal requirements must be observed). The device of a single-pitched roof involves fastening the beam to the walls with anchor bolts, the distance between them should be about a meter and a half. - Now it is the turn of laying rafters. Make sure that the length of the board is more than a span of the roof by about half a meter.
The distance between these boards depends on the severity of the covering material, if sheet options are provided, then 150 cm will be enough. If you are going to put slate or tile with your own hands, then it is better to choose a step - 100-120 cm. It is best to lay the board upside down. This will give extra strength to the entire structure. Rafters for a single-pitched roof should be cut into the Mauerlat beam along the entire length. When you mark with a pencil the places for the inset (recommended for beginner builders), make sure that the future groove is slightly wider than the thickness of the board. The slope of the groove cut is responsible for the degree of the slope. - One of the most important stages is the installation of rafters in the grooves.
All boards should be installed the same, under one slope. For your convenience, it would be better to initially put two rafters at the beginning and at the end of the wall, and then stretch a twine between them. Thus, you will receive an exact reference point, and the process itself will go much easier. To fasten the beam and rafters, use large nails (from 12 cm or more). The end of the rafter (legs is a construction term) is fixed on one side of the wall edge, and the other is fixed with a vertical beam. All rafter legs should be the same in degrees of slope, height, direction. - If you have a large house and the distance between the spans exceeds 4-4.5 meters, then it is necessary to install additional support beams (struts) for each rafter. Using this construction method, the entire roof, the rafter system as a whole, will be strengthened.
- Boards are stacked on the rafters step by step, and on them vapor barrier material. It is placed across the rafters. The film does not need to be pulled, but the strips should be overlapped (10-15 cm). Where fragments will join, for reliability it is better to use construction tape (glue strips).
- We lay the insulation on a waterproofing film. When laying, there should not be any gaps or gaps. The thickness of the insulation should be at least 20 cm. After the turn of the waterproofing layer, but some space should remain between it and the insulation. In order to provide clearance, usually small wooden blocks are placed between them. The waterproofing layer is attached using a construction stapler.
- On the resulting "pie" lay the crate. As mentioned above, for its manufacture using rails or bars 50 to 50, they are mounted across the rafters. Have as you like - a continuous canvas or at intervals.
After the crate, the final roofing is laid, its installation is carried out according to individual construction features.
Qualitatively laid, fixed rafters do not bend under a weight of 70-100 kg. If this fact was found during installation, it is necessary to reinforce the frame.
The technology of laying layers of the “pie” may vary due to certain circumstances, have some additions. Sometimes, for greater reliability, the waterproofing layer is re-placed on top of the insulation. It will not be worse from this, but in all cases special attention should be paid to fastening.
It is best to nail the film to wooden structural elements with nails with a flat hat or a construction stapler, the step frequency should be 15-20 cm.
One of the most important points is fixing the edges of the waterproofing material. It is brought under the overhang of the roof, the residual length should be at least 20 cm, after which they are knocked down from below with nails or, again, pass with a stapler.
It is best to take a wooden lath and knock it out with appropriate nails (in increments of 10-15 cm) - this is the so-called "folk" method of arranging a shed roof. Thus, you will be sure that air flows will not penetrate under the waterproofing film, will not cause large-scale damage when strong winds invade.
In the photo above, the edges (overhang) of the roof were unreliably fixed. In strong winds, the metal profile web along with the waterproofing film, like a light cloth, was easily thrown to the side.
Shed roof - extension to the house
For garages, sheds, baths, arbors, this type of roof is most convenient. The shed roof structure offers several advantages for the so-called auxiliary buildings.
If we consider the extension step by step, it will become clear that its roof is adjacent to the wall of a residential building. Thus, its rafter system is set up separately from the house. The lower ends of the rafters are located on the front wall of the extension, but the upper are attached to the building itself. It is very important to ensure a competent connection of the rafter frame of the extension and the main wall of the house. Too rigid fasteners are also undesirable to use, because the speed of shrinkage of the house and the attached building can be different. Due to this difference, cracks in the walls can then form.
In this case, it will be most convenient to lay the beams on a timber frame, which is adjacent to the house (attached to the wall). And the place (seam) between the beam and the wall should be filled with polyurethane sealant. It is necessary to lay the roofing material on the roof of the extension with an overlap, and also start at the junction under the covering covering of the house. This must be done so that later precipitation does not seep through the junction. Usually similar roofing material is used on the roof of the house and outbuildings - for aesthetic reasons.
If you decide to build a shed with a pitched roof, then the arrangement of the roofing system will not differ significantly from the above-described phased construction method.
It happens that the sheds are erected from the timber. In such cases, the top of the log house acts as a Mauerlat. Otherwise, there are no significant differences in the rafter system of single-pitched roofs of different buildings.
Video how to quickly make a simple winter paddock for horses:
The roof for the garage is shed using a similar method.
If the walls of the garage are built of brick, then the edges of the beams, rafters are embedded in the niches equipped for this. They are pre-made in the walls and negotiated at the design stages of the structure. It is recommended to wrap wooden fragments with a waterproofing coating before deepening into these niches. The spacing of the rafters is 60-70 cm. The front wall of the garage is high. From it there is a slope down to the rear of the building, the entrance gate is located in it. The roof should protrude 30-40 cm from the wall, form a small overhang.
Taking into account the above information, it becomes clear that such a variant of the roof is practical, functional, structurally simple. Do-it-yourself pitched roof can withstand powerful wind and snow loads. Such a roof will be warm, due to the small area for air penetration. If you did everything right, then it truly will serve you for more than a dozen years.