Nailing Sheathing On Roofs

Roe osborn a senior editor at jlc responds.

Nailing sheathing on roofs.

Boards used for sheathing range from those with a 4 inch face to 48 inch long plywood sheets. Roof sheathing comes in grid marked 4 by 8 foot sheets and should be installed perpendicular to the frame. 8d ring shank nails should be used instead. Roofing nails minimum 12 gage 0 105 inch 3 mm shank with a minimum 3 8 inch diameter 9 5 mm head complying with astm f1667 of a length to penetrate through the roofing materials and not less than 3 4 inch 19 1 mm into the roof sheathing.

When you replace a roof on a home that was built before the implementation of the statewide florida building code on march 1 2002 the nailing of the roof sheathing decking must be brought up to current standards for hurricane resistance as part of the installation of the new roof. It s true that screws have a highly effective withdrawal resistance which makes them excellent fasteners for tasks such as avoiding squeaks. Sheathing should be a minimum of 19 32 inch thick. Check the nailing surface is level.

Properly fasten panels including fastening and spacing hints. Where the roof sheathing is less than 3 4 inch 19 1 mm thick the fasteners shall. A structure s roof truss spacing can vary from every 12 to 24 inches. Follow these five simple construction steps for roof sheathing and scroll down to see more details on each with installation hints and tips below.

There is a common misconception in the building industry that screws always outperform nails when attaching wood to wood. Note holes should not remove more than half of the sheathing section note. Ventilate the roof according to current building codes. Can screws be used instead of nails for attaching wall sheathing to framing.

Never attach roof sheathing with staples. Nails from sheathing to ridge board roof sheathing ridge board ridge board joist or truss joist or truss roof sheathing vent holes on each side of ridge board. The problem exists because nail sizes and spacing used to attach the sheathing to the roof s structural members rafters or trusses do not provide enough strength to keep the sheathing on. For the longest lasting performance use a stainless steel or hardened aluminum nail but never use a cement coated or rosin coated nail because they may leave stains that could.

The typical thickness range for sheathing is 3 8 to 3 4 inch. The requirement became effective on october 1 2007. Use coated nails like chromate or hot dip zinc galvanized nails.