Jonathan
04-29-2008, 04:58 PM
Hi,
First off I should say I'm a novice at roof design. That said I'm looking to design a gabled screened porch on my back deck. The deck was designed with a screened porch in mind and the beam at the end of the deck has posts located under both ends and the center. My plan is to use 2 6x6 posts to support the outer corners with a 3rd post in the center to support the ridge beam. I'd like to keep the roof space open (cathedral ceiling) hence the center support post to support the beam. My challenge is supporting the roof at the house end.
The porch is 15 wide by 12 feet deep. This makes the central bean 12 ft long and the rafters 7.5 ft on either side. I'm planning to use 2x6's for the rafter with a 2 - 2x8s as the central beam.
My plan is cut the aluminum siding and lag bolt the end rafters to the wall studs. I'd then connect the center beam to both of end rafters. My question is how should I connect the center beam to the end rafters. Looking at other porches it seems that it may be possible to use screws to connect the center beam to to both rafters. Will this provide a strong enough connection and sufficient support?
An alternative I'm considering is adding a 3rd board lag bolted horizontally at ceiling height with a vertical board transferring the load from the beam down to the 3rd board. The attached jpg shows this option.
Thanks in advance for any advice
Jonathan
First off I should say I'm a novice at roof design. That said I'm looking to design a gabled screened porch on my back deck. The deck was designed with a screened porch in mind and the beam at the end of the deck has posts located under both ends and the center. My plan is to use 2 6x6 posts to support the outer corners with a 3rd post in the center to support the ridge beam. I'd like to keep the roof space open (cathedral ceiling) hence the center support post to support the beam. My challenge is supporting the roof at the house end.
The porch is 15 wide by 12 feet deep. This makes the central bean 12 ft long and the rafters 7.5 ft on either side. I'm planning to use 2x6's for the rafter with a 2 - 2x8s as the central beam.
My plan is cut the aluminum siding and lag bolt the end rafters to the wall studs. I'd then connect the center beam to both of end rafters. My question is how should I connect the center beam to the end rafters. Looking at other porches it seems that it may be possible to use screws to connect the center beam to to both rafters. Will this provide a strong enough connection and sufficient support?
An alternative I'm considering is adding a 3rd board lag bolted horizontally at ceiling height with a vertical board transferring the load from the beam down to the 3rd board. The attached jpg shows this option.
Thanks in advance for any advice
Jonathan