Normal Roof Overhang Length

Visit the roof framing page for more information on cutting roof rafters and visit the roof pitch calculator for determining rafter lengths based on rise and run.

Normal roof overhang length.

A typical metal roof overhang may be 2 to 4 inches or even less. On very tall buildings there are hardly any benefits of roof overhangs as the surface areas of the walls are so high. The siding underneath the overhang is known as the soffit. Roof overhangs are the amount that the roof hangs over the top of the siding in residential home construction.

But roof overhangs are a great system to protect houses 3 stories and under. Measure your house at ground level then add in the roof s overhang for greater accuracy. The size of the roof overhang depends on the property. Rafter span tables use these tables to determine lengths sizes and spacing of rafters based on a variety of factors such as species load grade spacing and pitch.

Roof pitches in. Overhangs are common in most house designs providing protection against both wind and rain. As an example if your overhang is 12 inches you ll add 2 feet to the overall length and 2 feet to the overall width of the house. Metal is usually installed on rafters or strip sheathing rather than the solid decking used under other materials.

The roof overhang length must be properly engineered to resist wind uplift. This is particularly true in geographical regions where high winds are a common issue. The length of the overhang depends primarily on the climate. The diagonal measures are actually relatively easy to get equal as it takes very little effort to shrink a long diagonal by several inches.

Some slight overhang is recommended in conjunction with a drip edge flashing to prevent water from getting under the roofing and onto underlying wood. Because this style of a shed has a flat roof it can facilitate a wider overhang which is ideal for storage. The ideal spec for roof overhangs. This nominal square footage amount is then multiplied by a factor associated with the roof s pitch.

With a flat shed roof the roof simply extends past the wall plate to provide an overhang.