Roof rafters, birdmouth cuts, and all that good stuff....

[frog522]

Hello, me again

I'm starting to feel like I've gotten way over my head with this chicken run/coop project. It seems to be getting more complicated by the day! But I sure am learning alot.

Question 1...Do birdmouth cuts need to be always made for roof rafters? I plan on just making a simple single-slant roof.

Question 2...How do you fill in the space between rafters? Like the rafters sit on the support-wall section but there is a gap between the top of the support frame and a pair of rafters? Am I supposed to fill this in with an appropriately sized block of wood, or just use plywood to cover it up?

The chickens of BYC members sure are lucky...

 

[ranchhand]

Quote:
I sure hope someone else comes along with a prettier idea! But mine do work.

 

[surfchicken72]

See my BYC page for the brackets I used to avoid notching the rafters... 44cents each...
Any piece of wood to fill the gaps.. or hardware cloth for ventilation, but be ready to close ome in the winter months depending on where you are.....

 

[ellabre]

ahhh dont worry about nuthin!!! learn as you go. you said you are building a "shed" style roof. nuthin too it!! take your rafter asuming its 2 x material. stand it on edge on top of your exterior walls. next take a scrap 2x, lay that flat on top of the exterior wall. push it against the rafter keeping the 2x flush in and outside of your wall. then mark the top of the scrap block where it meets the rafter. you will be marking the inside of the block to.marking the rafter of course. do that front and back walls. at this time also determine your overhang. once you have the overhang figuerd, take a level and plumb a line with a pencil on the rafter.do this front and back. this may take 2 people or u can improvise by holding the rafter in place by screws or clamps. as always be safe cutting, dont be worried, thats when accidents happen!

as far as the space between rafters. yes "blocking" use anything or even leave a bay in front and back open, covered with hardwarecloth for ventilation. hope this helps throw some pics up!! when your finished mark

 

[CarriageStone]

Do NOT use flat 1x4's for rafters. Do not. Lumber laid on the flat does NOT provide the stiffness needed for rafters.

However, you can use 1x4's laid on the flat for roof SHEATHING.

Regarding birdsmouths, you can use a hanger from Simpson in lieu of cutting a birdsmouth. I'm not in my office at the moment to give you the part #, but you can find them at Lowe's or Home Depot.

Best of luck,


Don

www.carriagestone.com

 

[teach1rusl]

Haha!! I feel your pain! We have a lovely coop that DH built (w/my assistance), but I'm currently building one by myself, really just for a summer project. I'm just doing a slanted roof too, and have done birdmouth cuts. But some of mine look more like crossbeak cuts...lol. (if you don't know what crossbeak is, do search above

). I'm either going to cut out 1.5" slots along the top of my siding, or cut pieces to add up there in the rafter gap areas...I can't use wire in that area, because I'm insulating.

 

[PineappleMama]

Rafters? What are these rafters you speak of??

Of course, ours is only 4x4... guess I could add a rafter in the center just in case, but so far it * is holding well without one.

*Roof is one 9' piece of clear wavy plastic cut in two then run side by side and at a slight slant.

 

[Robotmomma]

Rafters? What are these rafters you speak of??

Of course, ours is only 4x4... guess I could add a rafter in the center just in case, but so far it * is holding well without one.

*Roof is one 9' piece of clear wavy plastic cut in two then run side by side and at a slight slant.

Hi PineappleMama, I see this is many years ago. Could you say how your design held up for you? My design is just about 4x4 and I am wondering if it would work out to do the same as you have done.