Traditional Timber Roof Design

Traditional timber joints in oak truss design.

Traditional timber roof design.

They span from the wallplate to the ridge board providing a platform for the underlay battens and tiles. Traditional or cut roofs usually comprise a series of sloping timbers rafters fixed to a wall plate at their feet and a ridge board or possibly a wall plate at their head. Timber has been the traditional material for building roofs as far back as early saxon times and beyond. Also different architectural styles will use the same type of roof.

Intricate roofs have many parts that incorporate several of the basic roof designs such as a gable roof sitting atop a gambrel or variations of the gable valley roof design using one or a variety of different types of roof trusses also see our very detailed diagrams showing the different parts of a roof truss. The timbers are often 400mm or so centres and vary in size according to span. Timber cross beams tie beams principle rafters king posts queen posts collars and other members were and are usually connected together with mortice and tenon joints half housed joints lapped joints or scarf joints. A truss roof using factory made trusses which are delivered to site complete and just erected.

50mm wide by 75mm 100mm or 125mm deep are all. The rafters are the main load bearing elements of the roof. There are two basic methods of pitched roof construction.