How to Build a Roof Quickly

Building a roof is easy if you follow a few simple principles of good engineering and safety. Depending on what you're roofing, the steps can be quite different. Let's start with a little shed project. A very fast roof can be installed using sheets of fiberglass panels. These panels vary in width, but the most common sizes are 24 and 30 inch wide panels. 36-inch panels are also available from some retailers. The length is generally 12 feet, but 8-foot and 10-foot blades are also available.

Roof frames generally fall into two types or styles. American standard frame and trusses. Frame members for rafters are dimensioned according to the height, slope and span of the roof. A small shed may be framed with two by six or two by eight rafters, while a house has two by ten and two by twelve rafter sizes. Get more here about this articles. The shallower the roof pitch, the larger the framing members used to carry the roof and snow loads. A flat roof is possible but requires the use of joists and horizontal frames to support the roof loads. As a general rule, a pitched roof is far more common.

The standard frames consist of several rafters and a ridge beam. A much faster frame is to use a shed style frame system. This does not require a ridge beam, can be installed by one person and is also less expensive without a ridge. It is desirable to get a pitch of four by twelve for your roof. That means the roof drops four inches per foot of travel from high side to low side. If your shed is twelve feet wide, then the drop should be 48 inches. If your pitch is less, say three by twelve or two by twelve, you'll need to use larger rafters and a product called a roll roof instead of standard shingles. This helps prevent ice accumulation under the shingles as the flatter roofs are less able to drain water.

Once you have your frame complete, one of the quickest roofs to install is plain plywood with a rolled roof. If you want something more appealing and want to let light into your building, use fiberglass panels as described in paragraph 1. These rise quickly and, once nailed down, become a finished product. They are inexpensive and require virtually no maintenance.

Fiberglass roofing panels require a slightly different method of framing than traditional roofing. In addition to the standard rafters or trusses, you need to install so-called girts. Typically two inches by four lumber, they are installed in a continuous line perpendicular to the rafter frame at two foot intervals, with one at the top and one at the bottom of the roof edges and two feet or less space between. The fiberglass panels span the straps and the straps provide convenient locations for panel attachment. If a panel is not long enough to span the entire roof, the panels can be laid one on top of the other and using overlap sealant make a very strong roof. The panels are usually fastened with ring shank nails and grommets to protect the nail holes from water ingress. Screws are used quite often as they don't loosen or loosen over time. The cost is a few dollars more, but much less maintenance later.

There are also sponge gaskets for both ends of the panels where they sit on the edge joists or panels and for any fabricated panel overlaps. These are very inexpensive and avoid cutting any wooden closure strip at the sheet ends.