Ridge beam span table lvl1/31/2024 ![]() ![]() For example: a floor joist appropriately selected to span 10 feet with an L/360 limit will deflect no more than 120″/360 = 1/3 inches under maximum design loads. They are expressed as a fraction clear span in inches (L) over a given number. Maximum deflection limits are set by building codes. Only live loads are used to calculate design values for stiffness. In other words, how much a joist or rafter bends under the maximum expected load. Stiffness of structural members is limited by maximum allowable deflection. Perhaps the joists were strong enough if they didn’t break! But lack of stiffness leads to costly problems. For example, first-floor ceiling plaster would crack as occupants walked across a second-floor bedroom that was framed with bouncy floor joists. Strength and stiffness are equally important. Beams, studs, joists and rafters act as a structural skeleton and must be strong enough and stiff enough to resist these loads. The house acts as a structural system resisting dead loads (weight of materials), live loads (weights imposed by use and occupancy), like snow loads and wind loads. This article will focus on how simple beams like joists and rafters react to loading. If, when the loads of the house are combined, the house weighs more than the soil can support – the house will sink until it reaches a point at which the soil can support the load. Remember when your science teacher said: every action has an opposite and equal reaction? Well every building load has an equal “reaction load”. The structural goal of a house is to safely transfer building loads (weights) through the foundation to the supporting soil. A complete analysis of wood’s mechanical properties is complex, but understanding a few basics of lumber strength will allow you to size joists and rafters with the use of span tables. Wood is naturally engineered to serve as a structural material: The stem of a tree is fastened to the earth at its base (foundation), supports the weight of its branches (column) and bends as it is loaded by the wind (cantilever beam). Just supported on the outside walls.Using span tables to size joists and rafters is a straight-forward process when you understand the structural principles that govern their use. could I use a 2"x12" ridge board/beam across the 16' width if I use 2"x8" or 2"x10" dimensional lumber rafters? Both cases will have no interior supporting walls or posts and no ceiling joists. They will have a 10-12 pitch across a 20 ft total span (10 ft from front of wall to ridge).OR. I have read that a ridge board/beam when used with wood I-joists for rafters should have a ridge board/beam that can support the entire roof load, since the I-beams are not designed to tolerate the compression that can occur in my situation.Ĭan someone give me a definitive answer to this question:Ĭan I use a single (or double) 2"x12" board for a ridge board/beam when I use wood I-beams as rafters. ![]() Others are saying I need an LVL ridge beam. Some say I can use my 9 1/2" I-beams for rafters, and a single 2"x12" ridge board across the 16' span at the ridge. I am getting advise from local builders/framers with conflicting information. I had planned to use wood I-beams, as I did with my floor joists, for the rafters, but I am not sure about the ridge board/beam. I will have a vaulted ceiling, exposed rafters, with no interior walls or posts. The rafters will be front to back (on the 20 ft dimension). I am building a workshop that measures 16 ft across the front and 20 ft deep. ![]()
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