With the external windows and doors installed, and with winter coming upon us, I figured it was time to secure the various roof lines as planned, to help against any snow loads we might have and any high north winds as can often happen with those cold fronts that run through.
For roof load of the porch, I still needed to tie the rafter header board to the house, and for this I used 4×1/2 inch lag screws with a washer, drilling a 3/8 inch pilot hole into wall studs, placing them 4 feet apart or so:
I also added ties for the rafters to the header board. These were the less expensive ones but also had a gusset to help keep them from bending and thus hopefully keep the rafters more tightly against the header board. I used 1 1/2 inch 9 gauge exterior galvanized joint hanger nails to attach them, and for now, I decided to at least get one in place for every other rafter, hopefully to someday put on on each:
And I added some angled ties to the rafters that join at the hip rafter:
As for the winds, I used hurricane clips for the porch roof rafters, tying them to the cross posts:
And inside, on the main roof, tying the trusses to the pony wall top plates. To make sure the tie twist was hidden in the roof area, I put them on the left side. I started by hammering one nail into the bottom part, then placed all the nails in the top part, and then finished by filling in the bottom. Also, the top part of the tie was right where the truss metal gussets are, and so I had to hold the nail with my right hand trying to bend the top of the tie back, and then hammer through the gusset with my left hand, and being right-handed, that sometimes had some quite painful results. 🙂 :
Hopefully these will help against most of the weather issues we might face, as the Lord wills.
We are thankful once again to God for allowing us to continue progress on the house.
— David
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