stage lean to roof plans?

[Wayne's Train]

Best stage roof is a straight one, high in front low in back, that way it'll drain any rain to back side. Have it stick out in the front so you can hang light cans far enough out so they won't be shining straight down on top of the front guys head. Be careful with tarps over lights. The get hot and will catch fire. And the most important things to add are Ground Fault Current Interupter (GFCI's) breakers or outlets. It's cheaper overall to use GFCI breakers in your service panel. One electrocution will ruin your party.

 

[skypup13]

I figure on going with a wood roof after speaking to some musicians and their concern for the tin being picked up on stuff like the drum mics. Here is what I have done so far and as I stated if we don't have the funds to put down a roof we'll use a canvas till next time.

 

[EddieWalker]

Your spans make the engineering of it tricky. You have five posts to support a roof, and the span on the front of the stage is significant. A 2x6 isn't going to support that front span.

From the look of the stage, is it safe to assume this is going to be used on a regular basis and not a one time deal? Will there be any walls, or will all four sides be open? A wall will do wonders to stabilize the roof from racking on you and give you allot more stability. I would really consider putting a wall on the back of it and covering it in a 4x8 type sheething at the very minimum.

If possible, I would also bring out the side walls four feet to create solid corners at the back of the structure. Again, this will make if even more stable.

Then I would either buy a glue lam beam to span the front of the stage, or build a beam out of two 2x12's with half in plywood sandwiched between them. With a back wall and a proper beam across the front of the stage, you can build any type of roof system that you desire.

A basic gable roof wold be the simply way to go. You could overhang the front of it several feat out past the beam and have the peak over the beam with a shallow pitch towards the back. This will give you an affordable roof without allot of skill required to build.

If you have the tin, or want the tin look, you could put down OSB over your rafters and then put the tin on top of the OSB with tar paper. Again, this would be the affordable way to go.

From the pictures, it looks like you are in the South. Do you get any snow? This might change everything.

Eddie

 

[skypup13]

From the look of the stage, is it safe to assume this is going to be used on a regular basis and not a one time deal? Will there be any walls, or will all four sides be open? A wall will do wonders to stabilize the roof from racking on you and give you allot more stability. I would really consider putting a wall on the back of it and covering it in a 4x8 type sheething at the very minimum.

Hey Eddie, I plan to put up a wall on the backside of the stage. I am not sure, but I think I stated this beforehand, if not I am going to do that with some tongue and groove 1/2" thickX 3" boards for the inside and bat and board for the outside of the back part of this stage. Plus, put up a couple old swing doors and an old window to get the look we're wanting.

If possible, I would also bring out the side walls four feet to create solid corners at the back of the structure. Again, this will make if even more stable.

That sounds like a great idea! I thought we'd go ahead and put down two more 4X4 posts in the middle on each side for more support, but I like that wall idea.

A basic gable roof wold be the simply way to go. You could overhang the front of it several feat out past the beam and have the peak over the beam with a shallow pitch towards the back. This will give you an affordable roof without allot of skill required to build.

If you have the tin, or want the tin look, you could put down OSB over your rafters and then put the tin on top of the OSB with tar paper. Again, this would be the affordable way to go.

From the pictures, it looks like you are in the South. Do you get any snow? This might change everything.

We spoke about a gable style roof, but may go with a flat lean to style roof just for simplicities sake. Your right about the 2X12's for the front. That should make it strong enough. We are considering putting a 4X4 post on each side in the middle for extra support.
Plus, with some musicians I know that spoke of the mics picking up the tin, we came up with what your saying about plywood, then tar paper, followed by tin. We figure the wood would muffle any resonance of the tin.
Oh we are in southeast Georgia, I heard some snow hit Macon this year, but it was very little.

I believe we're going to just finish banding the roof right now as we have a lot of money tied up right now as it stands. But, with all these ideas coming I sure do appreciate it and look for more if someone thinks of something else.

 

[carpenter383]

I agree with EddieWalker a shed type roof that's not gable pitched, 20ft is too much to span 2x6 lumber. I'd say 2x12's would even be iffy to free span that distance for a flat roof. They would most likley sag in a few yrs. What about using engineered floor joists for the rafters? You could stick them out a few ft. past the walls which would help both the shelter from rain and also help keep the center of the roof from sagging as easily. (Add braces from the post to the overhang), Put a good laminated header on the front and buid a wall in the back as Eddie sugested for stability of the roof.

 

[Wayne's Train]

Go with the tin roof. It'll be lighter. If the mics pick up unwanted noise (beside the singer), use your compressors or downward gates.

 

[schmism]

For something that only needs to be covered durring the show.

Id go stretched canvas "tarp" roof over 1.25" conduit ribs.

its lightweight, strong, easy to weld up into a grid, Top rail for chain link fence comes in 20' lengths and you get a bonus if you find a fence company with a pile of "used" toprail for 25 cent a foot.

add one of these

- Harbor Freight Tools - Quality Tools at the Lowest Prices

and you can add a graceful curve to the roof bows for structural support and rain slope.

 

[skypup13]

The Hoopee Jam went on without a hitch, except for a lot of rain which kept the crowd size down to 400+. Here are the pictures of the stage and some performers. All performers told me they loved my stage and how solid it was.

 

[EddieWalker]

Looks good, I really like the way the back wall came out. Very nice!!

Two things that I noticed from the picture that I'd address if it was mine. First, I'd add diagonal bracing to the sides. You have it on the front post, across the front, but nothing on the sides. Adding this to the post and back wall will do allot to stop the building from moving front to back. The term is racking, and without the angle bracing, or a solid wall, there's nothing to stop it from happening.

The other thing that I would address is the end grain of your rafters. I'd run a PT board across those ends to create a fascia board, then put flashing under the metal roof and over the fascia board. This will prevent the ends for twisting on you, and protect those ends from absorbing moisture and rotting on you. It also just looks nicer.

Thanks for the update and congratulations on your success.

Eddie

 

[skypup13]

Thanks Eddie. I was going to add bracing on the sides, but didn't have time to do so. I like the facia idea and that will get done as well, now that I have time. It's been one hectic week around here. House full of volunteers and musicians.


I got a lot of compliments from the musicians about how well the stage was built, drummers from several bands commented on the drum riser being solid as a rock. One bass player who broke a stage a week prior to this was surprised at how solid the stage was and commented on that, actually I knew about him beforehand and the stage was built primarily with him in mind and a drummer who is 6'6".

Here's some photos of the first Hoopee Jam.

Blueground Undergrass

Tommy Talton, Jommy Hall, Diane Durrett and Randall Bramblett

Yonrico Scott Band(Yonrico is the drummer in the Derek Trucks Band too!)

Bonobos Convergence(guitarist Vaylor Trucks, son of Allman Brothers Band
dummer Butch Trucks)

Jimmy Hall, Curt Elliot, and Randall Bramblett on a sax jam