Chickens, and things related

[EddieWalker]

bmac,

Good questions.

The OSB needs to be horizontally. The reasoning is that when two peices meat, that becomes the week point in the roof. Having the next row overlap that seam increases the strength of the pieces below it. Option A is the winner!!! LOL

There is no need to bevel the tops of the facia boards. I agree that you would get a slightly tighter fit, but it's one of those things that really doesn't matter and you will never know the difference one way or another.

I can't remeber is I said this or not, but I like to attach my fascia boards with screws. Nails into end grain is always the weekest way to attach anything. Ring shank nails are better, but nothing compared to plain old deck screws. I also think you get a cleaner look with screws since you can either leave them flush, or countersink them a bit.

Most rafters are on 24 inch centers, while most walls are built on 16 inch centers. If there is any advantage to lineing up your rafters with your studs, it's minimal, and maybe even too small to measure. Nobody does it, and to my knowledge, it's not code anywhere.

I will give you a touch of information on code and attaching rafters, and you can do with it as you please. In most houses, the rafters attached to the top plate of the wall by toenailing them in place. This has been done for decades and is still done today. In California, and I've heard rumors Florida and now Louisiana, require metal straps to wrap around the top of the rafter or truss and attach to the wall studs. Just before I left California, the added to that and require a continues strap from inside the foundation footing to the top of the rafter/truss. I don't know if it has to go over the rafter and back down still or not. This creates a solid line from the foundation to the roof.

Eddie

 

[bmac]

bmac,

Good questions.

The OSB needs to be horizontally. The reasoning is that when two peices meat, that becomes the week point in the roof. Having the next row overlap that seam increases the strength of the pieces below it. Option A is the winner!!! LOL

There is no need to bevel the tops of the facia boards. I agree that you would get a slightly tighter fit, but it's one of those things that really doesn't matter and you will never know the difference one way or another.

I can't remeber is I said this or not, but I like to attach my fascia boards with screws. Nails into end grain is always the weekest way to attach anything. Ring shank nails are better, but nothing compared to plain old deck screws. I also think you get a cleaner look with screws since you can either leave them flush, or countersink them a bit.

Most rafters are on 24 inch centers, while most walls are built on 16 inch centers. If there is any advantage to lineing up your rafters with your studs, it's minimal, and maybe even too small to measure. Nobody does it, and to my knowledge, it's not code anywhere.

I will give you a touch of information on code and attaching rafters, and you can do with it as you please. In most houses, the rafters attached to the top plate of the wall by toenailing them in place. This has been done for decades and is still done today. In California, and I've heard rumors Florida and now Louisiana, require metal straps to wrap around the top of the rafter or truss and attach to the wall studs. Just before I left California, the added to that and require a continues strap from inside the foundation footing to the top of the rafter/truss. I don't know if it has to go over the rafter and back down still or not. This creates a solid line from the foundation to the roof.

Eddie

Thanks, pal. Maybe by days end tomorrow I'll have some rafters up.

 

[bmac]

Thanks, pal. Maybe by days end tomorrow I'll have some rafters up.

What was I thinking? Nope - no rafters up today.

Spent the AM making a list for supplies, placing the order with the lumber yard and driving to pick up the stuff. Had to get fascia, soffit, gable end vents, ridge vents, a couple of more pieces of T1-11, some Z flashing and another 2x6. Morning was now gone.

Got the last piece of wall sheathing up, laid out the ridge beam for rafter location and transferred this to both walls.

Now - rafter time. I followed Eddies great instructions but somehow I managed to mess up the 1st attempt. Modified it, but still did not fit like I wanted it to. Tried another - still no joy. On the 3rd attempt I got it pretty darned close. But, I was using my wife's eyes to critique the fit of the bird's mouth while I held the rafter up to the ridge board and she had to leave. So, I closed the book on the rafters for the evening.

I decioded to use Simpson-Strong brackets to fix the rafters to the ridge board as I don't trust my toe nailing skills. So, I put all of the brackets on the ridge board (except for the end rafters), put the ridge board back in place and attached the bracing that Eddie recommended (at least what I think he intended)

Here's a couple of pics from the end of the day.

 

[bmac]

Eddie,

Was this what you meant when you recommended the 45 degree braces? I sure hope so.

Despite the lack of real progress, I'm beat. Guess I'll go get some supper and relax.

 

[EddieWalker]

bmac,

I feel your pain. Getting supplies and just figuring out a materials list can eat up a day real easy. Living in the country and having to drive an hours just makes it more time consuming.

One of the tricky parts of describing something like how to build a roof and not being there is that I miss some of the small details. You did a great job, and it looks perfect. The thing that I misses is the tops of your angle bracing. I should have told you to either bevel them or cut them short. It might be the picture, but your OSB decking is going to hit the edges if thy are flush with the top of the beam.

Quick fix is to use a hand saw and just cut the edge off. If you have a sawzall, that's faster.

On fitting your rafters, where is the problem? If you cut the end and lay the rafter on the wall, it won't line up until you cut out the rest into the rafter. If everything is square, lined up and accuarately cut, there shouldn't be any gaps. In reality, nothing is perfect, and the building will settle into itself a little. If you can slide a dollar bill into the edge of the gap, it's close enough. If you can slide a credit card into there, you're pushing it.

Eddie

 

[bmac]

If you can slide a dollar bill into the edge of the gap, it's close enough. If you can slide a credit card into there, you're pushing it.

Eddie

What if I can slide a pencil in the gap?

Its the bird's mouth that's been problematic. The location of the vertical cut seems to be my biggest issue. I seem to either have a large gap between this cut and the siding or its too short and the rafter is short of the ridge board.

I'm guessing that much of the problem lies in my limitied abilities / experience using a circular saw. I'll keep plugging along - Got 2 rafters up today, then it started to rain. Of course, I had to scurry to get all of my tools back to the house before bottom fell out. I think we got 17 drops and now its sunny again. But, with thunderstoms in the forecast, I don't think I'm going to drag everything back down there again tonight.

The photos of the angle braces are a little deceiving. They are not flush with the top of the ridge board for the very reason you mentioned. They almost were, then my brain kicked in and I realized that that would cause a problem.

Thanks again, Eddie.

 

[EddieWalker]

bmac,

OK, I think I understand the problem. Transfering the measurements from the building to the rafter can be kind of tricky. I probably should have thought of this first, but hopefully, better late then never.

Cut the end off of one of your rafters at the 6:12 pitch that you need for it to attach to the beam. Then hold it up agains the end of the wall so that you can draw out the cut you need onto the rafter.

You might need a hand to either hold it in place or draw it out, but this should solve your gaps.

Nice to hear you're a step ahead of me on the braces!!!!!

Eddie

 

[bmac]

bmac,

OK, I think I understand the problem. Transfering the measurements from the building to the rafter can be kind of tricky. I probably should have thought of this first, but hopefully, better late then never.

Cut the end off of one of your rafters at the 6:12 pitch that you need for it to attach to the beam. Then hold it up agains the end of the wall so that you can draw out the cut you need onto the rafter.

You might need a hand to either hold it in place or draw it out, but this should solve your gaps.

Nice to hear you're a step ahead of me on the braces!!!!!

Eddie

Well, Your description of transferring the measurements made perfect sense - I think there's just a loose nut behind the circular saw. I may try your alternate method on the next one to see how that works.

As the rain never returned, I went out to the coop again and muddled through a few more rafters. I'm hoping that the use of the Simpson-Strong brackets will mitigate my less-than-perfect fit of the rafters.

The little girl in the first photo is the reason this project got started - she's the one who wanted chickens for her 4-H activity. For some reason, I thought it would be easy. The good thing is that she is already talking about getting more next year so we'll get at least one more year of use from the brooder and coop.

Turkeys are looking less likely this year. Haven't totally given up on the idea but my enthusiasm is fading.

 

[EddieWalker]

Turkeys are looking less likely this year. Haven't totally given up on the idea but my enthusiasm is fading.

She's a cutie and it looks like she's very proud of her chicken coop. If she changes her mind on chickens, she'll always have a clubhouse!!!!

I've run into issues with getting turkey's this year also. I cleared the trees for the fence and graded out most of the land for them, but the mud in the low area has put a stop to what I can do. Trying to add dirt to it just made things worse when the backhoe sunk into the mud and I had to tear up everything with the hoe stick, getting out. Now it's worse then when I started!!!

My new goal is to wait for it to dry up, fix the drainage issues and get it smooth enough to mow. I might try to do some fencing this year so that I'm ready for buying birds next year.

Eddie

 

[4720 OWNER]

If rats are an issue make darn sure no food is accessible to them at all and chickens eat all their food each day. Also flashing on the coop legs and armor on the sides and look up as well for an ariel attack. They are much easier to prevent than to get rid of plus the neighbors will blame you for the rodents, rather than their yucky habits.

Been there done that. Maybe self rising flour they start. (Rats cannot throw up and that rising has to go somewhere)