It does not matter which side the rafter ties go on unless it is specified by local building code. On a home they will be covered by either drywall on the inside or soffit on the outside wall. It especially does not matter on a chicken coop, because the chickens could care a less.This is so nice! My coop is soooo ugly (and I see now that I placed my rafter ties wrong!)
I have been a contractor in Florida and Georgia for years. The hurricane codes only ensure the whole structure blows away at one time instead of in pieces. The codes are reasonably based on category 2 hurricanes. Categories 3-5 damage will be sustained. Sustained winds from a cat 4-5 storm will pull the entire roof off. I saw this in person the day after Hurricane Andrew hit Miami. I was on the way down there as soon as the storm passsed. Maybe one day I'll get bored and scan all the 35mm photos I took the morning after. There were trailer parks that were missing. Every car and every building in South Miami that was outside had glass busted out. Eighty foot concrete light poles snapped off even with the ground. The body count was seriously underestimated. There were some neighborhoods blown into the Everglades, some trailer parks into the Gulf of Mexico.
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