How to Use 2x6 Roof Rafters on a 14-Feet-Wide House

Design the roof so that the 2-by-6 rafters are at a 45-degree angle. On a 14-foot-wide house, the horizontal span for each rafter, not including the overhang, is 7 feet. A rafter at a 45-degree angle will go up 7 feet along a horizontal span of 7 feet. Find the length of rafter needed by squaring the length of the horizontal and the vertical, adding them together and taking the square root of the result. In this case, 7 multiplied by 7 equals 49; 49 plus 49 equals 98. The square root of 98 is 9.899. You can call it 10 for this purpose. Adding a foot for an overhang, this means that your rafters need to be 11 feet long.

Cut a 45-degree angle on the ends of two 2-by-6s. Lay them out so the 45- degree angles are pressed together, forming the 2-by-6s into an L shape. Nail the two 2-by-6s together through their ends and into each other.

Reinforce the 2-by-6 assembly by attaching a cross-piece to them in the form of the horizontal line in an A. Put the crosspiece in the centers of the two 2-by-6s and nail it to their faces.

Cut bird's mouths in the ends of the rafters. A bird's mouth is the notch at the bottom of the rafter that fits over the top cap on the wall. For a 45-degree angle rafter, the bird's mouth will be cut at 45 degrees from the edge of the 2-by-6.

Set the assembly on top of the walls. Secure it to the walls by toenailing the 2-by-6s to the tops of the walls using 3 1/2-inch-long nails. Reinforce the rafter assembly by nailing a 2-by-4 to it, extending the 2-by-4 diagonally down the decking and nailing it to the decking.

Add more rafters along the tops of the walls using the same steps. Separate the rafters from each other by 16 inches.