There are several ways to calculate common rafters. I'll cover the most efficient method i've found, which uses the RedX Roof App to automatically calculate every measurement.
The image below is an example of a rafter plan the app will create
Measurements Required:
Here is the information you will need to know to enter into the app.
Roof Pitch or Rise: Here you can enter either the Roof Pitch(or roof angle) of your rafter or the vertical Rise from the top of the top of the wall to the top of the rafter.
Run: Here you enter the horizontal distance from the end of the wall to where the top of the rafter ends will end.
Overhang: Here you enter the distance from the end of the wall to the inside of the fascia.
Rafter Height Above Plate or Fascia Drop: Here you can enter either the Rafter Height Above Plate (see image) Or the Fascia Drop Measurement (the vertical distance from the top of the fascia to the top of the wall. This can be a positive or negative number)
Rafter Depth: Here you enter the depth of the fascia, for example the depth of a 2x6 rafter would be 5 & 1/2 inches.
Fascia Thickness: Here you enter the thickness of the fascia, for example the thickness of a 2x6 fascia would be 1 & 1/2 inches.
With these measurements entered into the app, the app will automatically generate a plan of the rafter with all of the measurements needed.
Measurements The App Will Give You
Measurements
As you can see the app will generate just about every measurement you can think of, and the plan has every measurement labeled so it is easy to visualize every measurement.
Now let's look at what else we can do after we are done creating the rafter.
Zoom In
Double tap on the plan or use 2 fingers to zoom in on to the rafter to get a closer look of the measurements
Save And Load Jobs
Now that you are done creating your rafter lets go over how we can Save and load rafters to the app for later use.
Saving a Job
Tap on the Save this Job button just above the rafter plan, then tap on Name This Job to add a name. Aver that tap on the Save button!
Loading a Job
Tap on the Load A Job button just above the rafter plan, then select the job you want to open and then tap on Load.
Print and Share The Plan
Tap on the Print button just above the rafter plan, then select the printer you would like to print to.
Export as PDF
Tap on the Share button just above the rafter plan. This will create a PDF version of the plan that you can share with other apps. For example you can save the PDF to your phone, email it, or send it in a text.
Save To Photos
Tap on the Save To Photos button just above the rafter plan. The app will ask you permission to save the plan to your photos, tap on accept and thats it! The plan will have been saved to your photos.
Conclusion
Now that we went over the basics on how to create and calculate rafters on the RedX Roof App, you can create any rafter imaginable. There are lots of other great features like Valley Builder, Hip Rafter Calculator, Turret Roof Builder, Plywood Angles, Dormer Builder and others...
Do you think this is something that you would use? Let me know in the comments.
Thanks to all of you who made it this far!
