Nailing Sheathing On Roofs

Never attach roof sheathing with staples.

Nailing sheathing on roofs.

The critical fasteners occur at the gable framing member not necessarily at the edge of the sheathing. Properly fasten panels including fastening and spacing hints. Roof sheathing comes in grid marked 4 by 8 foot sheets and should be installed perpendicular to the frame. We go in depth on how to install roof sheathing.

Although the heads are broad roofing nails are short their shank diameters are small and their heads pop off easily. Roof sheathing and the gable truss. The number of nails needed for a roof varies on multiple factors such as board face width length and roof truss spacing. The connection between the roof sheathing and the structure is a vulnerable point that is known to fail during a hurricane.

A structure s roof truss spacing can vary from every 12 to 24 inches. Ventilate the roof according to current building codes. Keep these tips in mind when roofing in hurricane areas. Tighter nail spacing is recommended 4 inches on center maximum.

Roe osborn a senior editor at jlc responds. There is a common misconception in the building industry that screws always outperform nails when attaching wood to wood. Nailing accuracy is crucial along this member. The typical thickness range for sheathing is 3 8 to 3 4 inch.

Use 10d to 16d common nails and drive them through the roof sheathing and into the framing see the photo. Starting with how to place the first row of sheathing we cover fastening methods the use of h clips stagg. The requirement became effective on october 1 2007. Roof jacks provide safe platforms on sloped roofs.

Sheathing should be a minimum of 19 32 inch thick. Method for maintaining a continuous load path at the roof ridge by nailing roof sheathing. The problem exists because nail sizes and spacing used to attach the sheathing to the roof s structural members rafters or trusses do not provide enough strength to keep the sheathing on. During a hurricane the strength of the sheathing on the roof can greatly impact the homes ability to weather the storm.

When you replace a roof on a home that was built before the implementation of the statewide florida building code on march 1 2002 the nailing of the roof sheathing decking must be brought up to current standards for hurricane resistance as part of the installation of the new roof. This video shows how some roofs fail under heavy winds in uplift situations. It s true that screws have a highly effective withdrawal resistance which makes them excellent fasteners for tasks such as avoiding squeaks. 8d ring shank nails should be used instead.

They attach to the roof with nails but don t use roofing nails. Boards used for sheathing range from those with a 4 inch face to 48 inch long plywood sheets.