Build a Hip Roof

A hip roof is a simple roof which slopes downward at all points and has a uniform angle of pitch. Often combined with gables or other features, hip roofs are perhaps the simplest style of roofing and are good for draining water and avoiding leaf build-up. Although most people build hip roofs from trusses (pre-made frames), it is possible to build your own hip roof from scratch. The steps below will provide instructions on how to build a hip roof.

Steps

  1. Measure the length of your common rafters, hip rafters and ridge beam allowing room at the end of the common rafters and hip rafters for the ridge beam to fit.
    • Common rafters are those which run from the top of the wall to the top of the roof.
    • Hip rafters run along the joints where two faces of the roof meet. Measure these according to pitch. The ridge board runs along the top of the roof and where the common rafters and hip rafters meet. Measure this according to the length of your building and the length of the other rafters that will meet it.
  2. Measure the common rafters according to your desired pitch, or angle, of the roof.
  3. Cut these rafters to size.
    • You should have enough common rafters so that there is one every 20 inches (or 50 cm) along the walls. On a simple roof over a rectangular building, there will be four hip rafters and one ridge board.
  4. Measure the length of your jack rafters.
  5. Cut the jack rafters to size and place one every 20 inches (or 50 cm) along the walls.
    • Jack rafters connect hip rafters to the walls.
  6. Mark along the walls the spots where the common rafters, hip rafters and jack rafters will be secured.
  7. Place the common rafters in their designated positions and lift the ridge beam to the correct height.
  8. Nail the common rafters to the ridge beam.
  9. Secure the common rafters to the wall using ceiling joists for extra support.
    • The common rafters and ridge beam should now stand solidly on their own.
  10. Nail the hip rafters to the ridge beam and secure them to the corners of the walls using ceiling joists for extra support.
  11. Nail the jack rafters to the hip rafters and secure them to the walls.
  12. Measure and cut plywood sheathing to cover all faces of the roof.
  13. Leave extra room at the bottom edges of the sheathing so that the roof hangs over the walls.
  14. Nail to the plywood sheathing to the rafters.
  15. Attach any extra roofing material as desired.

Tips

  • Remember to subtract the size of the beams when making all your measurements, so that, for example, your hip rafters do not run from the walls to the top of the roof, but from the walls to the bottom of the ridge board.

Warnings

  • Do not secure the common rafters to the wall before nailing them to the roof beam as you may need to adjust their positioning along the wall after they are nailed in place.

Things You'll Need

  • Several wooden beams (2 x 10 inch or 5 x 25 cm)
  • Plywood
  • Saw
  • Tape measure
  • Nails
  • Ceiling joists
  • Additional roofing material

Sources and Citations

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