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VIDEO SERIES: How To Build a Bay-Window Roof

by Rick Arnold

Length: :55
Produced By: Patrick McCombe and Colin Russell

With light coming from three directions, a bay window can really transform a space. Installation can be more difficult than an ordinary window, especially a hip roof.

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The secret to a good-looking roof is having the right proportions. Unlike a traditional hip roof, the roof over a bay window with 45-degree sides is based on an octagonal roof—but most people don’t know how to frame an octagonal roof. We asked one of our veteran builders to show us how it’s done. In this video, Rick Arnold shows us his simplified method for laying out and building a bay roof. You won’t need to know a lot about roof framing, and you can adapt the techniques to any 45-degree bay window. He frames the roof on the ground, which makes it faster and safer to build.