squaring roofing material

[mitchell574]

Starting in the morning my father and I will be installing the roofing metal on his new hay barn. It will be 50 x63 of covered area it is a sloped roof. the tin is 26 ft long and 3 foot wide. that means that we have to square a 50 ft line that is 15 ft in the air. Is there some sort of trick that I dont know. I have run a line on the bottom where I want the tin to end up. I plan to install rain gutters to catch rain water to fill a pond. I thought that in a triangle a certain distance across the bottom and a certain distance up would equal a certain distance. I would like to be able to get on the low corner and get as close as possible before i get up to the high side. Also I would like to mention that all this work is being done standing on top of a peanut picker . The fall does not scare me its the sudden stop.

 

[MikeD74T]

Lay out a 3-4-5 triangle. 3 units along the drip line, 4 units along the gable/rafter line, & 5 units on the diagonal. (Go at least 2/3's of the way up the rafter i.e. 16' or 20' to an easy to reach purlin so you have something solid to measure against. Divide this distance by 4 then multiply by 3 & 5 for the other sides of the triangle.) This will give you a line perpendicular to the eves. If it doesn't end up even with the gable end you can trim the overhang or rip the first sheet of metal on a slight diagonal to match the roof. If you don't start square it might not be noticable anyway. you have a length to width ratio of about 9 to 1. If you are 3" off square at the top you'll be 1/3 " off at the bottom, slightly saw toothed. You'd just have to hang the next sheet 1/3" below the last to maintain a constant overhang. Good luck, be careful, & send pics. MikeD74T

 

[mitchell574]

So if I go 12 ft on the drip line and 16 ft up the peak to be at a true right angle the distance should be 20ft

 

[CATMAN]

My brother has build steel buildings in the past. He did mention that to handle those long sheets of sheet metal, one must bow the sheet a little(like a slight u-shaped trough) lenghtways to keep a long sheet from crinkling in the middle somewhere. This was most important doing tall side walls when one person has to set the sheet upright to the guy in the basket. I just thought this tip might help, then again it may be common knowledge.

 

[kennyd]

So if I go 12 ft on the drip line and 16 ft up the peak to be at a true right angle the distance should be 20ft

That is correct

THIS explains it well.

 

[Glenn9643]

Don't bother with the triangles, or any other method of trying to "square" up.
You stated that you had run a line at the bottom where you wanted the metal to "end up".
I would double-check to be sure that this line is parallel with the outside of the wall, and a fraction of an inch beyond where I wanted the lower edge of the metal. Everything should be installed in such a manner that you can put the metal sheeting up without disturbing the string...
Put up one sheet of metal and align the bottom edge with the string as best you can. You'll probably need some help to hold things in place. Add a second sheet of metal and realign so that their bottom edges are even and following the string. Again, just enough screws to hold in place. Add a third sheet and after aligning the bottom edge check to see if it is still following the string. If not make necessary adjustments to make the uniform bottom edge follow your string and install all screws. From this point proceed and pay particular attention to your bottom edge and the guide string. Nothing to it but a bit of work.

 

[mitchell574]

Thank for the replies. Come daylight Ill put it to the test. I had heard about the triangle thing but did not understand. Your link was very informitive. Thanks again to all.