Jay builds a house: Rafter units

Once the floor was built, you'd think I'd build walls. No. Rafters first!

I started by drawing the roof lines on the deck. Then I used them to mark & cut 1 rafter, including a bird's mouth. The bird's mouth cut didn't go well, and getting them right makes a big difference in how the roof goes together. I decided on a different approach.

It's common to buy pre-made roof trusses, built in a factory. I could have done that, but I wanted to try doing it myself once. But I can do something similar: Rafter units, made of 2 rafters and a ceiling joist.

I built a template on the deck to align all the components, for uniform rafters. There's a placeholder for the ridge board:

This blocking represents the wall, and aligns the ceiling joist:

There's another one on the other side:

Used 1 good rafter as a guide for the plumb cuts on all the others:

I also cut some strips of plywood for later use:

Nailing is loud, especially on a deck, and shards of metal can fly at high speed, so some protection is a good idea:

How to build a rafter unit:

1. Slide rafters in to position:

2. Screw them down to stop them from shifting during assembly:

3. Attach the tops of the rafters to keep them from shifting. The nails were just what I had on hand. Note the plywood isn't really structural (it doesn't need to carry a load), it just holds the rafter unit together until the roof is done.

4. Place the ceiling joist. There's a little wiggle room, but make sure it doesn't stick out above the rafter.

5. Nail things together. My nails are 3 1/4" long, and the wood is only 3" thick. Driving the nails at this angle actually makes things stronger, while keeping the points from sticking out.

6. 5 nails at each end. Note that they're not *quite* all the way in, so that if I change my mind, I can get a cat's paw in to pull the nails without tearing up the wood.