How Far Apart Should Roof Battens Be

Battens should be fixed to rafters set at centres not more than 600 mm apart and should span at least 3 rafters.

How far apart should roof battens be.

In this video we will show you how to space and screw down your roof battens. The basics the manufacturer supplier of the slates or tiles will recommend the size of battens to be used but typically they are 40 x 20mm 1 5 x inch sawn timber where the distance between rafters is large and or the roof covering is heavy larger battens may be needed. Common spacing for trusses on this type of building is often between 2 and 4 feet but trusses built with advanced designs may allow spacing as great as 8 or 12 feet. Each product has different requirements for example batten spacing for 0 42bmt corrugated metal roofing needs to be no more than 1100 mm apart but batten spacing for 0 48bmt metal roofing can be up to 1600 mm apart.

The same concept holds true for roof trusses. Below 200mm there can be 3 consecutive joins in any twelve battens. Note the lineal footage of strips for each. So the space between rafters can be greater without reducing the maximum span.

This translates to seven rows of strips 20 feet long spaced two feet apart or 140 lineal feet of stripping. Not more than one in four battens should be joined over one truss for gauges over 200mm.