I have an old bungalow with flying rafter tails, most of which were cut short by the previous owner. We are planning to reroof down to the sheeting. I figured this is as good a time as any time scab on some new rafter tails.
My question is – how far up the existing rafters should I go?
The roof overhang is about 36″. I live in the midwest and get lots of heavy wet snow.
Also, should I add any kind of strapping to affix the rafter tails to the existing rafters or just nails?
By the way the new decorative tails will be cut from 8/4 western red cedar. Don’t know if that has any bearing on the answers.
Replies
I now do historical remodels, and this is a fairly common task out here in California.
I have bad news for you--to do this, you will need to take the first 5 feet of sheathing off. If you are still interested, this is how I do it:
First, make a tracing of a rafter tail design you like. If you have 1-2 buried under a gable or valley, use them, if not, check out your neighbors' homes and make a tracing on posterboard. It is actually fairly common to have several designs within the same house. A small format on a bay window, maybe 2x4 (actual) stock; a little larger on a 1st floor back porch; and a large 3x5 format on the main roof. They would all have different designs. Some have curved receptors for half round gutters.
In any event, once you get set on a design, make up some posterboard designs, and if you are handy, transfer them to quarter inch masonite. Make up full size mockups (actual size) for the ends for whatever sizes yours will be. Again, you may have several sizes and designs within the same house.
Go up to the attic and find out where they are attached to your rafters, but it should be about 5-6 feet on the other side of the top plate. Add the exposed length (you said about 3 feet) and voila you have your fininsh length, about 9 feet.
Find a custom lumber yard and order some clear western cedar or redwood in whatever stock size will work, like an 8-4 for the smaller guys, and a 12-4 for the larger format. Hopefully someone at the yard has a bandsaw who can mill those ends for you.
Once you have the tails cut and in the sizes and lengths you need, start your tear off, tearing off the first 5' of the roof sheathing.
Go to the corners first and find a long straight piece of lumber and scab a piece of sheathing on it. Place it on the sheathing above the cut and have it droop over the demo'ed area, with the scabed piece on the bottom. Set a corner tail first at that angle and against the scab. Set the opposing corner next in the same way. Run a taught string line bewteen the two, and set the middle rafter tails at the same level. Scab the tails onto the rafters in the same way they were installed.
At the point commencing from the top plate and going out away from the home, the sheathing is usually replaced with douglas fir bead board or "V" groove board, with the "V" or bead facing down, so you can see it. I guess if you are a cheapie, you could use T-111.
Now you are ready to re-roof, but don't forget the gutters with the flange set at the roof pitch, right, and ice and water shield over the first 6-8 feet of roof line.
This is how I do it.
Boris
"Sir, I may be drunk, but you're crazy, and I'll be sober tomorrow" -- WC Fields, "Its a Gift" 1934
Yes I am still interested and thank you for detailed lesson. i may come back with more questions as the projects moves closer.
Any reason not to use weten red cedar bead board? I found a supplier and was looking to stain it to match the rafter tails and assorted other trim details. We are stripping the old aluminum siding and doug fir beveled siding and replacing with beveled western red as part of this project.