Reinforcing A Sagging Gable Roof

Once again a 2 by 4 inch piece of lumber is placed between the trusses and parallel to the ceiling joists.

Reinforcing a sagging gable roof.

If your rafters are still sagging a bit and it is causing your roof to dish out a little in the center of the roof sides add a 2x4 that goes all the way across the rafters in the center of the length of the rafters. Use your string line to determine how much the roof need to go up. You will need to remove the shingles and the old decking however which means there will be an exposed hole in the roof. If the sagging roof is due to rotting or warping roof decking the repair will be much easier.

The other is just used to support the trusses. This is where a high pitched roof is necessary. This creates a solid unit of wall framing from the ground through to the roof on the gabled end of the house. Should the bottom cord of one or more trusses be sagging or damaged it may be reflected in a sagging ceiling or if the roof is over loaded to heavy then the downward pressure may cause the sagging.

Sagging rafters may be the result of having framed the roof with lumber of dimensions smaller than current building standards such. Sagging ceiling could be an indication of framing issues some of which could be related to the roof. Third install a shutter over any vents on the gable end wall. If you notice that there is a visible dip in your roof chances are you have a problem with one or several rafters and you may soon be facing more issues like water leaks bowed out walls or your roof caving in on you.

A higher pitched roof would be better for extra living space than a lower pitched roof. Sagging rafters can lead to serious problems with the entire roofing system. A great deal depends on the pitch of the roof. Reinforce your roof a properly constructed roof in areas subject to high winds has trusses attached to walls with hurricane tiedowns properly nailed sheathing and heavy duty shingles.

Create a continuous load path. If you are building a new house with a gable roof consider using continuous wall construction or balloon framing.