11/6/12

Today we finally moved onto the roofing side of things,We sat down in the class and went over some roof definitions;


Collar ties- Holds rafters together(have to be 1.8m apart or every third rafter.)

Ridge Board- Where the rafters meet at the highest point, (needs to be dead flush on the bottom of it)

Common Rafter- Forms the shape of he roof(must land 100% on ridge board) 

Start Rafter-Is the same length as a common rafter.

Cleat- Stops immediate movement under ridge board.

Hip Rafter- Forms apex of hips, jack rafters fix to hip rafters. (has to be bang on straight, on a equal pitch roof it should be 45 deg) 

Jack Rafters- Form hip shape (braces and straightens the hip rafters)

Dodgem block for the trusses.

Dodgem block for the trusses.

Ceiling Joist- Stops the walls from falling out under pressure.  (1.8m max spacing)

Cripple Rafter- Fits between a hip and a valley

Outriggers- Form eave of gable end (canter leavers off racking top player)

Short Hip- Connect change of height in ridge board

Valley Rafter- Form the valley of the house

Under Purlin Strut- Take weight from under purlin and transfers it to sterdy beam

Load Bearing Wall- Takes immediate weight from struts To under purlin struts

Mark drew up a few pictures to help most of us get our heads around it.After we went through all of this,I went over the road to the UCOL library and hired out the Rafters and Trusses book,Just to make things much easier for study.


After Smoko we progressed on with the build,We installed the remaining jack trusses.Then we were told to center the trusses at 830mm centers.We then set up a string line on the outside with a dodgem block,The blocks had to be nailed in place as they moved because of how tight the stringline was.A few of the trusses were then moved from side to side to get the adjustments right,Then they were fixed down.Tomorrow we should be nailing down the purlins and calculating the right amount of rows needed for the structure of the roof.

Picture showing the names for each section of the roof.

29/5/12

 So to start of the day,We went upstairs to learn about trusses,there are so many trusses/roofs to choose from,I learn't what a hip roof was,It is a roof that is pitched on all sides,On a slight angle.Here are a few definitions in regards to trusses;

Valley = Where two roof planes meet at an internal corner.
Apex/Ridge=Top point of the roof.
Hips=The angles that glide down on the roof.

After our little session in class,Me and a few others were to complete the finishing touches for the opening in the lounge for the sliding doors.I got the router out and clamped the guide that I had made for the straps to the stud and boundary joist.The router was set to the right depth,I nail punched in existing nails to stop the router from hitting the nails.Once the the timber was routered into I put the strap in place and nailed in 6 galv nails in each end of the strap,(More can be put in if the builder chooses to)

Next up I had to grab a nail plate and mark a pencil line around the outside at the top plates down to the stud next to the opening.Then chizled out the chunks and nailed the plate into place so it was all nice and flush with the exterior wall.

After lunch we returned to find out that we were to be blogging till 3pm,After this we finally got to install the roof trusses,now it's starting to look like a house.We followed the roofing plans provided by ITM,These are constructed by them and advanced machinery.Not any odd person can build them,You have to be qualified to be able to.The first truss is lifted up and tacked into place,then another one at the far end is tacked to it to prevent it from falling.The same process is done at the following end.Once both ends are even,a string line is then attached to the tops making it easier for the others to be set up.Next up,Perlins!