The Roof Ridge Beam

A timber frame roof has rafters and a ridge beam as with stick framing but the ridge is a large structural beam that the rafters sit on top of or sometimes fit into notches cut into the beam.

The roof ridge beam.

The difference between them is that a ridge beam is a structural member that bears half of the live and dead loads of the rafters on either side of it but a ridge board is not structural. Glulam ridge beam span table elcho beams tables golagoon. Ridge beam sizing is based on the span of the beam between supports and the amount of roof load supported by the beam. The rafters bear most of the weight of the roof.

The top ends of the rafters often meet at a ridge beam but may butt directly to another rafter to form a pair of rafters called a couple. Framing in a ridge beam in shed roof construction is not hard. Now if you have done any looking around this site you ll quickly see that i am not a fan of using a ridge beam in shed construction. A ridge board is a non structural member that serves as a prop for opposing rafters to rest against and connect to.

A ridge board or beam runs through the tops of rafters or trusses from end to end along a gable roof tying those framing members together. Rafter to ridge beam connection framing roof ceiling construction structural ridge beam absolute deflection in a ridge beam structural ridge beam tricks of the trade. B a ridge beam supported by not less than 89 mm length of bearing. The loads on the ridge beam are carried by vertical posts at the beam ends down through the building structural walls to the building foundation.

Ridge beams are required by code if the roof slope is less than 3 in 12 irc section r802 3. Timber steel framing manual single span ridge beam. A simple rafter roof consists of rafters that the rafter foot rest on horizontal wall plates on top of each wall. With this design the ridge beam bears much more load weight than the ridge board on a standard stick framed roof.

I always always build trusses. A structural ridge beam is a horizontal beam placed at the peak or ridge of a roof and is designed to carry much of the live and dead loads or weight of the roof structure by itself. Yes either a ridge board or a ridge beam is necessary and required by the building code where roof rafters meet at the the center of their span.