Need carpentery/wood help please

[dmartin1]

18 foot wide shed all wood, has a slanted roof all the way.it leaks like heck.

and its constructed very poorly and looks like crap.

here are some pictures of the roof inside and how its constructed.What would be my best bet for the roof on this shed/wood shop?
I was thinking somewhere along the lines of making a spacer in the middle and making it slant bothways.or just get new studs and construct a entire new roof with a pitch.

best,cheapest,easiest way would be great! i need help.please

and for the pictures....

[dmartin1]

[cdowns]

what type of roofing material is on the roof? that is what stops the leaks

[Sillyoldman]

If I'm reading this correctly your building does not have any roofing on it.
Based on what I can see I'd say don't spend too much money fixing it. Add a pitch to it and throw some rolled roofing down.

[dmartin1]

it has rolled roofing and tar paper on it.
no overhand at all on the edges.
even with the roofing it sags in the middle of the entire thing.

it was a 10ft wide shed with 8ft added on as an afterthought by someone.

it starts at 85" and slopes to 82" on the opposite side.it sags in the very middle both ways, and the middle support beams are ALWAYS in the way.

[kaycee]

Well I am by no means a carpenter,but I would rip that roof off and start over using some of the 2x4 u take off.Get a piece of plywood and cut strips 3 1/2" by 1' put a piece on each side of your seam where the 2 butt end for end.Glue(liquid nail) and nail them together,keep your seam in the center of your building18' wall to wall center would be 9'.I would use new wood so your shed is 18 ' wide I would use 10' boards this would give u some over hang on each side how much u want is your call, cut em off at 18' or have a 1' overhang on each wall or what ever u want make it a 6" overhang.Then you can use your scraped wood four your pitch.I hope I made some sense here I could show u easy but this trying to explain it is my weakness.

[kaycee]

Heres a pic to help u understand the seam I am trying to explain, this is on my 24' wide garage.I see your in Arizona so you don't have any snow or anything that would be a load bearing on top.So I would think that a 3 to 4" fall from 1 end to the other would be sufficient.This is what I would do ON A BUDGET and only my opinion only like I said I am no carpenter but have built a few structures and they r still standing in this 60 mph Wyoming wind snow infested state lol

[dmartin1]

Kaycee, did you build a flat roof then build a pitch roof on top of it with an over hang?

I have about 30 8-10' 2x4'z for use. I don't wanna reconstruct the entire shed. But the roof and maybe the side with the bad framing yes. I plan on redoing half of the framing which is easy but the roof is challenging me. Could it be done without needing supports all down middle on the inside?
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[old Rusty C10]

for the first point roof beams need to b e 16 inches on center not what looks like 24 inches.. Make sure you crown the 2X4s that youre putting up there... I would tare off that roof and put up a slightly pitched one and put on a robber roof

[kaycee]

Forgot to mention that the rafters should go on top of the wall not butted against them.

[63burban4x4]

In my opinion, you'll struggle to stop that existing roof from leaking. In building, as in cars & trucks, it's hard to polish a turd, you just end up throwing money down the hole. If you can budget for it, you might check on buying some wood trusses.....most areas have at least one truss builder around. try to get at least maybe a 3 to 4:12 pitch on it. It wouldn't take too many trusses, and somebody else does all the figuring. Take the thing down to the top plates, and use your 2x4's to build up to match the plate heights on the two opposite bearing walls. 2 guys can set those trusses on in a few hours. It might be possible to salvage some or all of the roof plywood....put it on the trusses and buy some kind of roofing. some of the metal roofing is pretty inexpensive, and will last a long time. I you can't save the plywood, but decide to use metal roofing, you could skip the plywood and use furring strips across the trusses, and attach the roofing to them. It will be strong, pitched, with an overhang, and probably be a lot better looking too. Just my HO. I'm guessing that from the looks of the pics, it might be fairly out of square, just because it looks quite amateur built, but within reason, the truss roof would still sit on the plates and provide a relatively square roof. string the ends of the trusses till they line up. Good luck with however you decide to go!

[dmartin1]

i called the local truss yard here and trusses are a bit out of my price range unfortunaely.

I did run across what is called a ridge beam roof? looked fairly simple.


If i went ahead and re-did the roof and kept it just a slanted roof, how could that be accomplished without sagging in the middle,or even breaking etc when i walked on it? (180 lbs)

just finding the best but easiest and most budgetable way to do it.this shed is a thorn in my side!

[mongoose]

18 by what?


if you want it beefy make it beefy, run a nice big girder where the one is now.. but make it out of laminated 2x6's or 2x8's.. then run 2x6 roof joists... use hardware to tie everything in.. instead of just toe nailing everything.

[63burban4x4]

You have many problems with the existing roof struture. The rafters are undersized, overspan, and the spacing is too great for he OSB sheathing to span. The rafters are not attached correctly at the ends, they need to bear on the plates, The main support beam is undersized and overspan. It is also not correctly supported at the ends. These shortcomings are making the roof sag from the deflection of the lumber, and I suspect you have ponding water due to it....3" of pitch in 18' will probably not overcome the deflection condition, to keep water from puddling. No roofing is going to keep that from leaking. You can put in a stronger beam but it needs to be computed to be strong enough to negate the deflection. I don't know if you ever get snow load where you are, but that would really require a much larger beam or more supports to shorten the spans. To get a strong enough beam there, it will be tall, I don't think that laminated 2x6 would do it without several support posts under it. If that beam is already in your way, getting an adequate one in there, will only make it larger and more in the way.

I wouldn't spend a dime on trying to fix that existing roof framing. I also think that unless you can get someone with some carpentry experience to help, framing a new roof with a ridge beam and decent overhangs will be much harder than installing a truss roof, and likely wouldn't save much, if any, in materials. Trusses would eliminate all the shortcomings you have in that existing roof, and eliminate the center beam altogether.

My perspective comes from owning a building and remodeling business for 30 years, I'm a state licenced contractor in two states, a licenced Construction Supervisor, and a designer. If it were me, (which it's not), I'd put a blue tarp on it and start saving for some trusses, and some metal roofing. If you have 2 good opposing bearing walls, you can get a pretty decent roof on it fairly reasonably. Good luck either way. Everybody needs a good shop!

[63burban4x4]

You have many problems with the existing roof struture. The rafters are undersized, overspan, and the spacing is too great for he OSB sheathing to span. The rafters are not attached correctly at the ends, they need to bear on the plates, The main support beam is undersized and overspan. It is also not correctly supported at the ends. These shortcomings are making the roof sag from the deflection of the lumber, and I suspect you have ponding water due to it....3" of pitch in 18' will probably not overcome the deflection condition, to keep water from puddling. No roofing is going to keep that from leaking. You can put in a stronger beam but it needs to be computed to be strong enough to negate the deflection. I don't know if you ever get snow load where you are, but that would really require a much larger beam or more supports to shorten the spans. To get a strong enough beam there, it will be tall, I don't think that laminated 2x6 would do it without several support posts under it. If that beam is already in your way, getting an adequate one in there, will only make it larger and more in the way.

I wouldn't spend a dime on trying to fix that existing roof framing. I also think that unless you can get someone with some carpentry experience to help, framing a new roof with a ridge beam and decent overhangs will be much harder than installing a truss roof, and likely wouldn't save much, if any, in materials. Trusses would eliminate all the shortcomings you have in that existing roof, and eliminate the center beam altogether.

My perspective comes from owning a building and remodeling business for 30 years, I'm a state licenced contractor in two states, a licenced Construction Supervisor, and a designer. If it were me, (which it's not), I'd put a blue tarp on it and start saving for some trusses, and some metal roofing. If you have 2 good opposing bearing walls, you can get a pretty decent roof on it fairly reasonably. Good luck either way. Everybody needs a good shop!

[dmartin1]

wow, thank you for the information. maybe it would be best for the trusses afterall.

if im gonna do it,i might as well just do it right the first time. i dont mind saving for the trusses if it gets rid of all the dam leaking and center beams etc!

thanks everyone for the information!

[63burban4x4]

I think you'll be happy with the result. If you need help figuring anything out, just drop me a PM and I'll be glad to help -Ed

Wife and I are traveling in an RV trailer, heading into the southwest...never been out that way. Heading to FLA first to see the g'kids, probly pulling out of FLA late March, heading for Texas, NM, maybe AZ. Heading up the Front Range to northern CO. about April, early May....I'll come by and check yer work since I'll be in the neighborhood

[dmartin1]

good luck on your trip! hope you enjoy the southwest, be careful you dont make the trip too close to summer, unless you like dying of heat strokes! haha.But arizona has some fairly cool places to check out.Im in the northwest part of az.

if i run into anymore questions or concerns ill certainly pm you!

[pat 70/71]

In my very humble opinion, you should really consider framing a gable type roof structure. You don't need to purchase trusses $$ just gather as much information on roof framing as you can digest. And build a new gable type roof complete with plywood & proper felt and composition type roofing materials.
That way you can keep that nasty water out of your little shop at a fraction of the cost of trusses. Cheers, Pat
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[72chevynoob]

Are the walls insulated? If not can you post some pics of how they were put together/stud spacing, so we can tell if the building is even worth a new roof?
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[special-K]

x2...tarp it and save money to set trusses,salvage the lumber you remove.

[Bishops Trucks]

I've been a carpenter for 34 years. In my opinion, you need to tear off that roof completely. Build it up with more pitch and add a ridge beam down the center with all the proper support framing to support the beam. Get a price together for stick framing the roof with rafters and one for pre-engineered trusses and see whats cheaper for you.

[daverod]

Well put x2