How To Lay Plywood On A Roof

During a hurricane the strength of the sheathing on the roof can greatly impact the homes ability to weather the storm.

How to lay plywood on a roof.

Like most other things there is no one right answer for the plywood thickness of your roof. 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. Install baffles providing a minimum of 1 inch of clear space between framing and or under roof decking at eaves to ensure that ceiling or roof insulation does not block ventilation paths. The most common scenario is a home that has rafters set approximately 16 inches apart.

This video shows how some roofs fail under heavy winds in uplift situations. To secure it measure it roll it out over the plywood cut it to the dimensions of the roof with a roofing or utility knife and finally hammer it securely to the plywood with 1 2 inch roofing nails. Preparing your plywood sheets using a string line mark a line to guide the first row at the eaves. Keep these tips in mind when roofing in hurricane areas.

Run a string line over the roof trusses and then either plane the high parts or add packing to create that perfectly straight line. For vaulted or cathedral roof construction provide a free ventilation path from eaves to ridge between all rafters. Align the long edge of the sheathing with the ends of the. If you have chosen to use a rigid roofing metal wood shakes or shingles tile etc you can use 1 x 4 slats instead.

The connection between the roof sheathing and the structure is a vulnerable point that is known to fail during a hurricane. On top of this underlayment goes a slip which protects the material from tearing as the metal roof expands and contracts with changing weather. Using these steps you will be able to save big on sheathing your roof.