Joist Hangers vs. toe-nailing rafters on shed roof addition
danf26
| Posted in Construction Techniques on
I am putting a small porch addition onto a small cabin in Western Massachusetts. The porch will have a shed roof, with around a 4:12 pitch, coming off the north side, right below the eave. As we’re in Massachusetts, and as this is along the north wall, there will likely be quite a bit of snow build up.
To attach these porch rafters to the ledger, I am considering using Joist Hangers. These rafters will have to resist both thrust and shear, and it seems the hangers will do a good job with this. Around these parts, I’ve seen similar shed-roof-to-wall-assemblies, and some are just toe-nailed in with 2 to 3 nails per side of rafter. How can these withstand all the pressure? Could this actually be adequate and joist hangers overkill?
Thanks,
Dan
Replies
Joist hangers
I believe code is to use joist hangers. Seeing the amount of snow we had last year in eastern Ma. I would definitly do the hangers for safety sake. Better safe than sorry.
X2 on framing connectors., Does the wind ever blow there? Then you also need uplift protection.
Certainly it's possible to do without the hangers, and the joint, if you're lucky, is probably about 80% of the strength of one with hangers. But why even try? It's SOOOOOO much easer to use hangers, especially for a DIYer, and you have confidence in the joint when you're done, vs always "wondering".
Do you believe in magic?
You know, I'd probably use joist hangers too. They're inexpensive, easy to install, and make a solid connection. But the reality is that there are countless roofs built that have toe-nailed rafters and, done properly, its a fine way to build. Sometime I get the impression that before Simpson came along, people think houses were built using magic.
For a shed roof...............
we always installed a ledger below the bottom of the rafter line (usually 2x2) and then slightly notched the rafter and toenailed to solid framing..
Toe nailing is fine if you are only trying to hold things together in a down load. That does explain why, any time you have one of those dust devils they call a F0 or F1 tornado up there, it rips the roof off.
Using the right simpson clips you can make a 150-160 MPH structure that will shrug off that kind of storm.
It is not just a couple twisty clips tho, you are strapping every joint from the foundation to the truss with a strap about 16" long and 30 nails or so.
This is a 150 MPH rated house after a hurricane in lesser company
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