How to Frame a Shed Hip Roof With Metal Connection Brackets

Frame the center of a hip roof with gable-style common rafters, which connect a center ridge board to an outside wall. Make the basic hip frame with one common rafter in the center, from the peak to an end wall, and two hip rafters cut at 45-degree angles to run from the peak to the wall corners. Brace the hip rafters to wall caps and the center common rafter with jack rafters of varying lengths. Make all connections with metal brackets or plates.

Connect a center ridge board to common rafters on either slope with U-shaped brackets fastened to the ridge on either side of the rafter. Set the rafter inside the bracket and fasten it with 8d galvanized nails or screws and a hammer or screw gun. Use this type of connector where straight rafter ends meet vertical boards.

Use angled brackets, formed to the proper angle, to connect the tops of jack rafters to the diagonal hip rafters. Attach the bottom of hip rafters to the wall corner with a special U-shaped bracket fastened to the outside of the double wall plates and a holder across the corner to support the rafter end.

Fasten the ends of both common and jack rafters to the wall caps with brackets called hurricane ties. Nail the bottom portion to the wall caps with galvanized nails and a vertical portion to the sides of the rafters. Use a bracket with a bent cap that goes over the top of the rafter board to hold it more securely in place.

Install 90-degree angled brackets to connect ridge boards or bottom truss chords to the sides of rafters or bottom rim joists on the roof ends. Nail these onto the inside angle of the joint. Connect all of the joints with metal plates called gussets, which overlap the seam and are fastened to the boards on both sides.