Step 17.8 - Roofing Details, Part 1

Our architect, Pat Sheehy, stopped by to see how the job is progressing. It was good to see him because he has been on vacation and we had a few questions for him. He reviewed the plans and gave us the answers we needed.

The California roof over the living room expansion will add more weight to that part of the rafters. To give the roof extra support, additional bracing was added. These are called purlins and there are 6 of them under the California roof.

Among the most important Craftsman details are outriggers and exposed rafter tails. The outriggers are 4x4 or larger beams under the eaves. They are notched, then routered and sanded. The barge rafter (an exposed rafter on the outside of the house) is supported by the outriggers.


The rafters run at a right angle to the outriggers, and they do the majority of the work of holding up the roof. The rafter tails are angle cut at the ends in the style of bungalows from the early 1900's.






As viewed from the street, the garage is looking very large. This is partly because of the extra height needed for the loft, and it is one of the reasons we excavated so much dirt to lower the floor of the garage. The structure feels so large that I am now naming it the "Garage Mahal".