#ENERGY SMART RAFTER TAIL DESIGN FULL SIZE#

There are various complications that can arise at this point. If I align everything in the gable walls with this center line, the framing ends up plumb and the roof will be square and symmetrical. Then I bisect the rectangle with a center line, which locates the ridge and the peaks of the gables. We measure and adjust the rectangle until it is square, equilateral, parallel, and aligned with the exterior walls of the house. I start out with the big rectangle, usually the whole floor including the walls that flank the gables. Some would say this is micro-managing framing, but by tweaking the design full-scale, I can avoid awkward rips and flashings, inefficient use of materials, and aesthetic mistakes.

#ENERGY SMART RAFTER TAIL DESIGN FULL SIZE#

Whoever said that “symmetry is the hobgoblin of little minds” certainly wasn’t a house framer! In addition to accurate framing, I also use these full size drawings to design and finalize trim details. With these drawings, I can design and pattern every component of the walls and roof, often making them in pairs or larger sets. Better yet, I like to start out with identical pictures of each gable. Like a boat builder, I like to start out with an accurate, full-size drawing of the gable, with its base exactly in position on the floor. On some houses, the first time the gables ever see a ladder is when the owner puts up his Christmas lights. The smaller the wall, the more stuff I can put on it. In a nutshell, I draw a picture of the gable on the subfloor, cut all of the pieces and assemble them, add plywood, housewrap, fly rafters, trim, paint, and whatever else I dare, and then stand them up.

Most houses have standard gable ends that are built and raised from one of the upper floors or the attic, although I’ve occasionally raised story-and-a-half balloon-framed gables from a lower floor.

After we raised them, people started stopping us on the street to ask what the house was going to look like!

Sometimes those gables even have trim, paint, windows, and siding, even though there’s just a plywood box under them and no roof between them! One time we built a house where the two gables were perpendicular to each other. Several days of sawing and hammering go by with no visible results, and then all of a sudden, the gables rise up and the house takes on its final shape. I often wonder what the neighbors think as they watch our progress. Even gambrels and funky contemporaries are easier to build this way in fact, sometimes the roof framing details are unclear until I draw them out full-size to build the gables. As such, they all have gable ends that lend themselves to being built flat and stood up. If I ever go back to a big crew, it won’t be as a boss!Īlmost every house we build here in coastal New England is based on traditional Cape or colonial designs. Of course, there are times-like when we’re looking at sixty or so big heavy rafters-when we miss having those young and strong employees! On the other hand, the benefits of working slower and smarter are many: More time for thinking means fewer mistakes are made, less material is wasted, and details are better designed and thought out.

Energy smart rafter tail design