How Far Apart Should Roof Rafters Be Spaced

2 6 shed roof rafters are enough for nearly any type of shed a homeowner wants to build.

How far apart should roof rafters be spaced.

Use these two tables for. This post may contain affiliate links. Span length for 2 6 rafters. For example in the rafter span table below the highlighted cell in the 40 live load table indicates that 2 x 8 southern yellow pine joists that have a grade of 2 that are spaced 24 apart can have a maximum span of 10 feet 3 inches 10 3 if designing for a live load of 40 lbs ft 2.

Can span up to 13 4. A metal roof must also allow for some overlap on each side of the panels which will reduce the effective width of the panel. If you look at our rafter spacing chart you ll notice that 2x4s can span an 8 gap on a 4 12 roof. But they do tend to space rafters in one of several industry standard increments typically either 12 16 or 24 inches apart.

For more information see our disclosures here. These spacing intervals are measured on center meaning that the measurement is taken from the center of one rafter s horizontal surface to the center of the next rafter. Wider panels allow for greater spacing between rafters. To determine how far apart to set rafters measure the width of the metal panel and then the width of the first hill and valley of the panel.

This total span is well within the load capacity of 2 4 rafters but how far apart can we space the rafters. Patio roof maximum beam rafter spans. While a 2 6 might be nearly double the cost of a 2 4 you can likely space the 2x6s further apart negating the added expense of increasing your lumber width.