How To Lay Plywood On A Roof

If you have chosen to use a rigid roofing metal wood shakes or shingles tile etc you can use 1 x 4 slats instead.

How to lay plywood on a roof. It is assumed here that you will be applying plywood particle board or wafer board sheathing. Like most other things there is no one right answer for the plywood thickness of your roof. Align the long edge of the sheathing with the ends of the. Keep these tips in mind when roofing in hurricane areas.

During a hurricane the strength of the sheathing on the roof can greatly impact the homes ability to weather the storm. The answer depends mostly on how far apart the rafters are and the roof loads which vary based on the pitch of your roof. On top of this underlayment goes a slip which protects the material from tearing as the metal roof expands and contracts with changing weather. Run a string line over the roof trusses and then either plane the high parts or add packing to create that perfectly straight line.

Preparing your plywood sheets using a string line mark a line to guide the first row at the eaves. The connection between the roof sheathing and the structure is a vulnerable point that is known to fail during a hurricane. This video shows how some roofs fail under heavy winds in uplift situations. Once the roof rafters are perfectly aligned it is now time to prepare for the plywood sheeting.

For vaulted or cathedral roof construction provide a free ventilation path from eaves to ridge between all rafters. Position the first piece of plywood or oriented strand board sheathing on the bottom edge of the rafter tails at one end of the roof. The most common scenario is a home that has rafters set approximately 16 inches apart.