Replies

1. 
   hammer1 | Feb 14, 2012 10:32pm | #1

   Have the joint land half way to a rafter, just like everything else, studs to plates, sheathing to a stud, flooring to a joist, etc.

2. 
   xxPaulCPxx | Feb 15, 2012 02:14pm | #2

   A ridge board doesn't really do the lateral bracing - so don't worry about trying to keep it together.  That is handled by the decking.

3. 
   JimB | Feb 15, 2012 06:16pm | #3

   Paul is correct about the lateral bracing, but

   it seems easier to me to tie the sections of ridge board together.  I do it the way Hammer1 suggests, but I've also seen them spliced between rafters using 2x blocking or Simpson connectors.

4. 
   Planman | Feb 15, 2012 06:41pm | #4

   ridge boards

   Thanks for the input but it just seems to me that the two boards need to be tied together somehow . My raftering is not that great.. I thought maybe someone had a sure fire method. I think I'll try metal straps top and bottom.

1. 
   oldhand | Feb 15, 2012 06:57pm | #5

   scabblock

   You could put a scab, cut to fit tightly against the rafters on either side of the joint, like a block. nail though both rafters into the scab ends and nail the block onto the ridge boards over the joint [not in that order, you would nail the block onto the ridge up to the rafter layout first]. If you want to continue the over kill put another scab/block on the other side of the ridge. make sure the scab is below the roofline [not flush with the ridge] so it doesn't stick above the roof plane and hold up the deck.

   Doing it is way easier than that explanation may seem........

5. 
   Piffin | Feb 18, 2012 07:36pm | #6

   Couple of toe nailes does it for me

6. 
   NicholsConstruction | Feb 24, 2012 07:20am | #7

   I've used a technique that has been described as "penciling".   It requires two to three extra feet of ridge-board stock. 

   Cut  24 to 30"  long tapers on the the end of one of the ridge-boards so it ends in a point.   (Like a pencil point)  Lay this "sharpened" end on top of the other ridge-board you will be joining it to,  overlapping the ends the length of the taper.  Trace the taper onto the second piece of stock, then cut out the traced V so that you have two ends that mate nicely.  With the addition of a couple of toenails, you have a joint that will hold together nicely until the rafters are in place.  

   If I'm not mistaken,   I believe I gleaned this technique from the tips and techniques section of an old FHB.  It is quick, easy, and effective.

1. 
   Piffin | Feb 24, 2012 08:39pm | #8

   That misses the point and wastes good lumber

    This is a ridge BOARD! Not  beam. The only purpose of a rdige bd is to provide convenient nailing.

1. 
   calvin | Feb 24, 2012 10:24pm | #9

   Hey paul

   don't show up once a week and jump on the guy.

   thanks.

1. 
   Piffin | Feb 26, 2012 01:25pm | #12

   You want I should jump on him every day?

   I was not jumping on HIM. I was correcting bad information

2. 
   DanH | Feb 24, 2012 10:40pm | #10

   ??? That joint wouldn't be anywhere near sufficient to splice a ridge beam.  Seems like it might be overkill for a ridge board, but it doesn't waste that much lumber.

3. 
   NicholsConstruction | Feb 26, 2012 10:30am | #11

   ridge BOARD! Not beam.

   Paul.   I am talking about a detail that requires about 5 minutes of time and 2 extra feet of ridge-board.   If your point is that a decision to use more material than is necessary on a particular  detail constitutes a misuse of natural resources,  especially if that is the way many other decisions play out over the course of a building project,  then you have an argument worth listening too, although I might suggest that you need to work on your delivery.  If instead your point was, "Here is someone that is not smart enough to know that a method he is suggesting is overkill, (nice use of allcaps on board by the way),  then you misunderstand me.  When I hung out my shingle,  I was simply a craftsman, but knew that I would also have to become a businessman in order to really make a go of it.  Over the years,  I have become much more of a businessman but am still a craftsman at heart and the fact is that the detail I described pleases me,  both  in both a functional, and visual sense.  "Visual" you say,  "You are talking about a freaking attic space"  Yes that is true,   but as a remodeler,  my customers see the whole process, not just the finished project,  and more often than not,  they have noticed that detail and expressed pleasure in seeing it. ..... Two extra feet of ridgeboard,  5  minutes spent on the detail.  The way I figure it,  half of that is spent indulging myself  in what attracted me to this line of work in the first place,  and I chalk the other half up as marketing and P.R.

   Len

1. 
   Piffin | Feb 26, 2012 01:35pm | #13

   Hi Len,

   Neither of those were my point. I am sure that if you know how to make a scarf joint you know it is overkill. And I am not much concerned with "Green" thinking.

   I have been doing these internet forums for years and you would be suprised how many people jump in and make a comment that is entirely irrelevant to the discussion at hand, generally because they failed to read what had been written describing the problem. So it is often necessary to point out missed info. Sorry if I missed your reasons for making your joints that way, but your delivery made it look like you misunderstood. We don't know one another yet, so we are both making some assumptions on the others thinking. Let's back off and say oh well, two different ways of thingking. My apologies for misunderstanding.

   My own reason for using a butt joint instead of a long scarf is that it is easier, faster, and better. The joint is toenailed together halfway on a pair of rafters and is almost invisible to be seen. No wasted time. No wasted material. Looks good.

1. 
   NicholsConstruction | Feb 28, 2012 06:40am | #14

   Hi Paul

   Thanks for your response.   No worries.

   Len

7. 
   DoRight | Feb 28, 2012 12:12pm | #15

   Grasp of the obvious

   Calvin, Piffin has a lot of good information but what is really impressive and what he likes to share most is his grasp of the obvious.

1. 
   calvin | Feb 28, 2012 12:34pm | #16

   Do

   He is not a man without faults however.

   He can't drink and doesn't pitch horseshoes.

1. 
   Piffin | Mar 01, 2012 07:50pm | #17

   Both of which are somehow related to my lack of eye/hand co-ordination, LOL