Splice Roof Rafters

A ridge board is a much better way to secure rafters to your roof and will almost always be a better way to go.

Splice roof rafters.

Pictured at left is a 2x6 rafter spliced together using 3 4 plywood. A 16 foot board will end at a rafter with 24 inch spacing. Calculate where a ridge beam splice will be needed. Several roof rafters have been spliced in a v pattern near the roof ridge.

Rafter splice forgive the crude drawing will post pic but it is hard to see. When you prepare to make the splice note the rafters location. The roof rafters are 2x8 on 16 centers with 2x10 ridges. Rafter splicing is typically used as a last resort for erecting rafters and is not generally the preferred method of constructing roofs.

How to splice a roof rafter plate. Rafter plates are almost always spliced due to the length of most structures. In this case the rafter as a whole is actually stronger than it would have been because the splice is more than adequate and the plywood adds to the strength. In this case the framer just needed a longer rafter.

Some roofs are much longer than average milled board lengths which creates the need to splice one ridge board to the end of another ridge board. Measure rafter spacings of 24 inches with a tape measure and plan the splice to fall between rafters. Several have a plywood scab brace on the side but several do not.