need help on run design

[junior67]

I am hoping to add onto my run this spring...... I want to make a lean to covered run that is 8x10 with roof sloping on the 8' side...... I have tried to look up slopes etc and just don't understand it. We get snow here so keep that in mind. Thinking of making the tall side around 6' high. what height should the shorter side be???

I will be covering with the metal roofing.

 

[AmeliaBedelia]

This diagram may help show what each pitch looks like. For areas with snow, 3/12-6/12 is typical I think. So for every foot wide the run is, the tall wall should be at least 3 inches taller than the short wall. So if the run is 6 feet wide, your tall wall is 18 inches taller than the short wall at a minimum. Or more to be on the safe side.

And keep in mind that the roof will need to be more than 6 feet long because the angle makes it longer than the floor width AND you want overhang. And I believe you want the waves in the roof to be pointing downhill so they are like slides for the snow to slip down (not bumps the snow catches on). Hope that makes sense. Wasn’t sure how to describe that . But it’s often easiest to design around the material, so something to think about.

 

[RojoMarz]

I am the one that goes in there for the most part and I am under 5'. Lol. I may do 6' and 7' not sure yet

Less sun would be allowed in, when it's lower (especially if you have to wrap it for the winter).

Here is a Roof Pitch Calculator, maybe it will help.

 

[bditmar]

Watch the wind direction w that, I be nearly lost ours several times to high wind, good luck

 

[Krugerrand]

I'm not expert on the required pitch. I've seen 3:12 tossed out a lot. I think that's minimum for shingles. 1:12 I think is minimum for other roofing.

At 3:12, you are getting 3' rise for a 12' span. So, for an 8' span, you're looking at your high side is 1' higher than your low side.

 

[RoyalChick]

View attachment 3379777
This diagram may help show what each pitch looks like. For areas with snow, 3/12-6/12 is typical I think. So for every foot wide the run is, the tall wall should be at least 3 inches taller than the short wall. So if the run is 6 feet wide, your tall wall is 18 inches taller than the short wall at a minimum. Or more to be on the safe side.

And keep in mind that the roof will need to be more than 6 feet long because the angle makes it longer than the floor width AND you want overhang. And I believe you want the waves in the roof to be pointing downhill so they are like slides for the snow to slip down (not bumps the snow catches on). Hope that makes sense. Wasn’t sure how to describe that . But it’s often easiest to design around the material, so something to think about.

Great diagram. And let me put a ++ on overhang. I have 2' overhangs and I am grateful every day I decided to go with that!

 

[Ilovemychicks08]

Here is my slope i used dog kennel panels for the sides i can get better pictures. I think i did it 8 inches. These are from last year. But i got to get new ones once the snow goes away

 

[AmeliaBedelia]

Thanks. I figured the slope would make it longer and knew about ridges and overhang. Not sure how much longer the slope makes it though .. something to try to figure out. I like having a plan well in advance. Lol

They have calculators online. If there isn’t a handy ones for roofs, I know there are ones to calculate the “hypotenuse” of a right triangle. Just make sure to add the overhang widths too. So if you want tall wall 8 feet apart from short wall and say a pitch of 4/12, but you also want a 2 foot overhang on each side, then you want to calculate 8+2+2 (or 12) as the bottom of the triangle, and 4 inches x 12 feet (equals 48 inches or 4 ft) for your side of the triangle. Then plug those in online and get your hypotenuse or roof length.

But if it were me, I would use the length the metal sheets come in to decide the width of the run. So if the roof sheets are 12 feet and you want 2 foot overhangs and a decent pitch, maybe your run needs to be 7 feet wide to make that happen (just an example- I didn’t do the math).

 

[RojoMarz]

Our run is about 10' on the high side and sloping to 8' on the low. We didn't need to worry about maximizing roofing panels as we used repurposed roofing.

The 6' on your high side seems like it would make for a low run roof.

 

[RoyalChick]

I think the minimum pitch you can get away with given snow in MA/NY/NJ (where I am) is 4 in 12. That means a 4" rise for every 12" across. Probably 6 in 12 is better. I believe mine is 4 in 12 and it is doing OK.