i am building a home 26x32, with a room in roof design. there will be a 4ft pony wall on the second floor with a 7/12 roof pitch. I will be building the rafters, however i need assistance with the construction of them including how to connect them to the exterior pony wall. any help appreciated
With a 26-foot width and 7 on 12 roof pitch, you won't be able to meet the headroom requirements for a "room in the roof"...the minimum headroom by code for habitable space is 7'-6". You won't even have that much under the ridge. The code allows a small part of the room to have less than the required headroom, but not all of it. Better to be thinking of at least a 10 on 12 roof pitch.
The rafters have a cut where they connect to the wall, called a "birdsmouth", so that they bear on the wall and sometimes hook over it. They are toe-nailed to the wall top plate, and then inexpensive hurricane clips are required at each rafter, to tie it down to resist uplift.
Architect (NY) and Home Designer (PA)
Posts: 2492 | Location: Tobyhanna, PA | Registered: 24 October 2005