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What Kind of Bolts Should You Use to Secure Wood Rafters?

Bolts are a large form of screw designed to connect heavy timbers together to form a secure wooden structure. Although screw and bolt sizes were not made uniform until the twentieth century, several forms of bolt still in use today, such as the coach bolt, have been manufactured for over two thousand years. There are several forms of bolt that can be used to secure wood rafters, depending on the precise nature of the job at hand.

  1. Lag Bolts

    • Lag bolts are large screws with a thick screw thread on them and a hexagonal head for use with a wrench. They are heavy duty bolts designed to be used to connect large timber structures together, such as when securing wood rafters. Lag bolts are threaded to secure to metal lags, which makes the connection they make very secure.

    Through Bolts

    • Through bolts are similar to lag bolts only they do not necessarily have a head on one end. Instead, they are long pieces of threaded metal with a washer or nut connection on each end, which makes them more useful where either end of the bolt may need to be unscrewed at some point. Through bolts are useful for connecting large wooden structures, such as when securing an existing wooden rafter by bolting a new rafter to it for extra support.

    Coach Bolts

    • Coach bolts are long, heavy duty bolts. They are driven into wooden structures, rather than screwed through an existing hole. The head of the bolt locks onto the wood as the screw is driven into place, adding compression to the connection and ensuring a firm grip. Coach bolts are used to connect heavy timbers, such as when securing wood rafters, and also to fasten metal to timber. Smaller versions that taper to a point at one end are known as "coach screws."

    Drilling

    • When using lag bolts and through bolts, it is essential to drill the right diameter of hole for the size of bolt you have. The diameter of the hole must exactly match the diameter of the bolt, otherwise the connection will slip and the rafters will not be secure. It may be necessary, in fact, to hammer the bolt into place in the hole in order to ensure a snug fit.

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