Traditional Timber Roof Design

Intricate roofs have many parts that incorporate several of the basic roof designs such as a gable roof sitting atop a gambrel or variations of the gable valley roof design using one or a variety of different types of roof trusses also see our very detailed diagrams showing the different parts of a roof truss.

Traditional timber roof design.

Timber has been the traditional material for building roofs as far back as early saxon times and beyond. The timbers are often 400mm or so centres and vary in size according to span. 50mm wide by 75mm 100mm or 125mm deep are all. Traditional or cut roofs usually comprise a series of sloping timbers rafters fixed to a wall plate at their feet and a ridge board or possibly a wall plate at their head.

It is still the roof material of choice for housebuilders and self builders irrespective of whether they are building in traditional or contemporary styles or whether they are creating pitched or flat roofs. There are two basic methods of pitched roof construction. The rafters are the main load bearing elements of the roof. A cut roof this is the traditional method of cutting the timber on site and building up the roof using rafters ridge boards joists and purlins etc the exact details being determined by the size of roof size of timbers etc.

Timber cross beams tie beams principle rafters king posts queen posts collars and other members were and are usually connected together with mortice and tenon joints half housed joints lapped joints or scarf joints. Traditional timber joints in oak truss design. The overall construction of a traditional cut roof is to ensure that the load of the roof is evenly transmitted to the walls below.