tips on hips

A few tips on Hips (If you’re looking for a hip replacement, I can’t help you )

Hip roofs that is.

Hips can be somewhat challenging, but when you frame one the old school way, using the rafter square and good old math skills, and things fall in place the way they are supposed to, it puts a smile on my face.

Case in point our job for this week. We are building a small gazebo on an existing deck. As hip roofs go, it’s not very complicated. I will admit it’s been awhile so I had to brush up on some of my techniques and the math skills needed to accomplish the job.

I will say the most satisfying part of the job was letting my lead carpenter, Adam take control of the rafter cutting. After a few minutes of discussion he was on his way and I was able to watch the last 5 years of training pay off in a very tangible way. He ran into a few head scratchers a couple of times but in the end he cut and framed a roof that I would put up against anyones!

(Now I will only admit this once. If ever asked about it I will deny it happened. There is a calculation in hip framing that has always been somewhat obscure to me as to how it is interpreted. I admit I could not explain it to make sense to Adam. Well before I knew it, after he spent a few minutes at the saw horses, he comes up with the explanation that I for years have tried to explain and understand in a simple way. I guess you can teach an old dog some new tricks. Kudos to Adam.)

Now the tips.

If you find yourself wanting to build a hip roof structure, I suggest a few things.

1) Make sure you have a good working understanding of the terms, the math, and the relationship a hip section has to the common section of the roof. I’m not trying to teach you here how to build one, I just want you to understand some basics.

2) Hips, valley’s, commons, hip jacks, valley jacks, ridge, are the main parts of the roof. Knowing what each one is and does is essential.

3) Design plays a major role in how you go about building a hip.

Whenever possible, it is much easier to have a truss company design your roof for you. They will build all the parts and take care of most of the potential headaches involved.

You will get a scaled design plan that enables you to put it together almost like a jigsaw puzzle. Now you still need a skill set to do this, but for most people you will find it is much easier to go the truss route. Remember, trusses are trusses, not rafters. Both are designed very differently but when built correctly, do the same thing.

I could go on and on about the process but I won’t re-invent the wheel. There are countless articles online about roof framing. As I have found, some good and some bad, but you will get some basic knowledge if you want it. If the do it yourself idea is not for you, we would be glad to help you in anyway we can. Just follow the link to our website and its contact page and we will contact you.

Happy roof framing to you!

The Carpenter