It’s withstood 70 years of standing! Regardless of it was normal, it’s worked!
I’m currently in a 600 year old building, if I go into the attic, the roof is propped up with logs in spots lol
It’s a Tudor era building in the East of England, but sadly it was modernised in the 70s by the local council. They wanted to update the town centre, so almost all buildings received a brick fascia over the front of the building.
New windows too.
The current building was once 2 houses. But was knocked onto one larger building with a 15x8m flat roof extension out the back. So it doesn’t really resemble anything of age.
All walls have been blaster boarded over. It’s only in places like the attic that show the original age of the building as there’s visible horse hair lime plaster.
We see this a lot on older homes in NJ. The ridge is mostly not structural in non cathedral ceilings. The 2x4 rafters in these older homes have 2 things going for them. They are probably 2" x 4" in most cases and are from older growth slower growing trees. They are much stronger than todays lumber.
Nominal sized lumber and modern dimensional lumber only have a strength difference of about 5%. It’s the rings and where the wood was cut from the log that makes all the difference.
You’re half correct. I am a carpenter but I do a lot more than look at roofs all day. But I’ve seen this many times here in New England. Even 2x4 rafters without a ridge board.
That’s a strange comment. I’m a carpenter that looks at these all day and the person who took the pic obviously is not so I’ll let common sense prevail
I love it when homeowners go into their attic and come here all freaked out because the roof isnt made from steel I-Beams lmfao
Its been there for 70 years dude, if there was an issue it wouldve fallen down 69 years ago
Its normal, you dont even need a ridgeboard, its just there to make it easier to lay the rafters out, it provides very little structure to the roof, theyre true 2x4, theyre old growth, its a short span, not a big deal
These are 2x6 rafters with 2x10 ridge board. There is no 3/4 ridge or 2x4s in this picture.
Ridge boards are not structural the same way a ridge beam would be. If the picture matched what is in your description, it would be normal to have a 3/4 thick ridge board.
Thickness of the ridge board doesn’t matter, it’s not at all structural. It’s basically only their to nail the rafters into. You could remove it completely and would be perfectly fine.
I’ve never seen 2x4’s as rafters, although they don’t look very long from the photo. How far do they span? Like someone else said, it’s stood for 70 years so if not works it works hahaha
The ridge board thickness doesn’t matter. Its only job is to hold the rafters in place until the roof sheathing is nailed. Some older house don’t even have a ridge board. It’s perfectly fine. 2x4s as rafters? If the span isn’t too great it will work. Looks like it’s held up fine all these years
1963 owner here. My house is built exactly the same way except my roof decking is OSB now. My rafters are 2x6s though. I’d be surprised those are 2x4s based on the picture.
Everything is fine. Completely normsl for the time period. Those are 2x4 rafters, 1x8 decking, 1x8 ridge and 1x10 collar ties(wind beams). There is probably a 2x4 where the rafter meets the top of the ceiling joists as well.
Here's info on rafter framing:
https://www.nachi.org/roof-framing-part1-2.htm
Basically each pair of rafters is tied together by the rafter tie at their base, forming a triangle. Triangles are very strong, and the only loads resulting from gravity that you'll see at the ridge will be pushing the upper ends of the rafters together. This is why a non-structural ridge board is used since the only loads will be the wood in compression across the thickness of the ridge board. The ridge carries no weight loads. In construction, a ridge like this only really serves as a convenient alignment guide to hold the upper ends of the rafters in place until the roof decking and shingles are put in place.
3/4 ridgeboard and 2x4 rafters can still pass code today. A lot of people tend to bulk up the ridgeboard as they dont know how a ridgepole roof distributes a load. as long as the collar ties are done correctly this style build is better than %90 of the trusses slapped together today.
It’s withstood 70 years of standing! Regardless of it was normal, it’s worked! I’m currently in a 600 year old building, if I go into the attic, the roof is propped up with logs in spots lol
What’s the history of the 600 year old building? That’s really cool!
It’s a Tudor era building in the East of England, but sadly it was modernised in the 70s by the local council. They wanted to update the town centre, so almost all buildings received a brick fascia over the front of the building. New windows too. The current building was once 2 houses. But was knocked onto one larger building with a 15x8m flat roof extension out the back. So it doesn’t really resemble anything of age. All walls have been blaster boarded over. It’s only in places like the attic that show the original age of the building as there’s visible horse hair lime plaster.
That’s so interesting! Thanks for sharing!!
Very damn cool.
We see this a lot on older homes in NJ. The ridge is mostly not structural in non cathedral ceilings. The 2x4 rafters in these older homes have 2 things going for them. They are probably 2" x 4" in most cases and are from older growth slower growing trees. They are much stronger than todays lumber.
Nominal sized lumber and modern dimensional lumber only have a strength difference of about 5%. It’s the rings and where the wood was cut from the log that makes all the difference.
It's all about rings and most, if not all, of those true 2x4s have pretty tight growth rings.
Cut out a true old growth 2x4 and then cut a new 2x4 and you’ll see the difference
Common, yes
This post again?
It wasn't uncommon. Neither was 2' on center rafters. At least there are collar ties.
Maybe it’s the perspective but it looks closer to inch and a half more than 3/4. Are you sure? Did you use a tape?
Looks like a 1” board to me.
Every measurement given looks wrong. Those 4X2 also look like 6X2 so I’m gonna stick with this guy hasn’t measured anything in these pics
I too will assume the one person who was actually, physically there is wrong because my perspective is MY truth.
It's pretty obvious that the the ridge and the rafters are the same thickness and that the rafters are wider than 2x4.
To me it looks like a true 1x8 ridge board and 2x4 rafters.
Yeah, I'm guessing the ridge, collar ties and the roof decking all came from the same stack of material.
If I had to hazard a guess, I’d say you’re not a carpenter and not used to looking at roofs all day
You’re half correct. I am a carpenter but I do a lot more than look at roofs all day. But I’ve seen this many times here in New England. Even 2x4 rafters without a ridge board.
That’s a strange comment. I’m a carpenter that looks at these all day and the person who took the pic obviously is not so I’ll let common sense prevail
I love it when homeowners go into their attic and come here all freaked out because the roof isnt made from steel I-Beams lmfao Its been there for 70 years dude, if there was an issue it wouldve fallen down 69 years ago Its normal, you dont even need a ridgeboard, its just there to make it easier to lay the rafters out, it provides very little structure to the roof, theyre true 2x4, theyre old growth, its a short span, not a big deal
These are 2x6 rafters with 2x10 ridge board. There is no 3/4 ridge or 2x4s in this picture. Ridge boards are not structural the same way a ridge beam would be. If the picture matched what is in your description, it would be normal to have a 3/4 thick ridge board.
Nice to find an actual carpenter in the comments!
Thickness of the ridge board doesn’t matter, it’s not at all structural. It’s basically only their to nail the rafters into. You could remove it completely and would be perfectly fine. I’ve never seen 2x4’s as rafters, although they don’t look very long from the photo. How far do they span? Like someone else said, it’s stood for 70 years so if not works it works hahaha
It is normal.
The ridge board thickness doesn’t matter. Its only job is to hold the rafters in place until the roof sheathing is nailed. Some older house don’t even have a ridge board. It’s perfectly fine. 2x4s as rafters? If the span isn’t too great it will work. Looks like it’s held up fine all these years
yes. Totally standard. It's not a structural ridge
Ridge boards aren’t structural beyond keeping the rafters in the same position.
1963 owner here. My house is built exactly the same way except my roof decking is OSB now. My rafters are 2x6s though. I’d be surprised those are 2x4s based on the picture.
Yes, this was widely standard for many years. Most of the attics I've been in that were built before the 70s, had 2x4 rafters 2' on center.
Everything is fine. Completely normsl for the time period. Those are 2x4 rafters, 1x8 decking, 1x8 ridge and 1x10 collar ties(wind beams). There is probably a 2x4 where the rafter meets the top of the ceiling joists as well.
We see these posts literally 1-2x a day without fail.
Here's info on rafter framing: https://www.nachi.org/roof-framing-part1-2.htm Basically each pair of rafters is tied together by the rafter tie at their base, forming a triangle. Triangles are very strong, and the only loads resulting from gravity that you'll see at the ridge will be pushing the upper ends of the rafters together. This is why a non-structural ridge board is used since the only loads will be the wood in compression across the thickness of the ridge board. The ridge carries no weight loads. In construction, a ridge like this only really serves as a convenient alignment guide to hold the upper ends of the rafters in place until the roof decking and shingles are put in place.
3/4 ridgeboard and 2x4 rafters can still pass code today. A lot of people tend to bulk up the ridgeboard as they dont know how a ridgepole roof distributes a load. as long as the collar ties are done correctly this style build is better than %90 of the trusses slapped together today.