Installing roofing sheathing

During the day, metal roofs with no barrier or insulation create heat gain inside a building, causing molecules of hot air to get trapped inside the house. At night, once the ambient temperature starts to cool down due to the absence of the sun as a heat source, hot air rises, and once it comes in contact with the cool metal, it causes the hot air to condense, thus forming droplets of water under the metal roof.

In countries with four seasons, the presence of snow creates an additional load onto your roof. Without roof sheathing, snow may cause deflection in the areas of your roof without support. The presence of sheathing somehow stabilizes your metal roof and prevents it from bending. Roof sheathing allows the load to be uniform throughout your roof, rather than concentrated. It prevents your home from heating up like a kiln since the sheathing wards off heat gain up until a certain extent.

Since sheathing is often made from wood, it is ideal to go hand in hand with an underlayment. The roof underlayment will help protect the sheathing from leaks to ensure that it lasts longer. If you have a tight budget, you may consider installing the cheapest sheathing and underlayment you can find. Oriented strand board and Felt underlayment could be your best bet.

These are affordable and will still last you around years or more, without leaks from your roof. Without underlayment, your sheathing will rot and disintegrate once water finds its way inside your home.

The sheathing is supposed to act as an extra layer of protection, preventing your home from water damage. The absence of a roof underlayment will allow water to slowly damage your sheathing, causing costly repairs in the future.

Oriented strand board is by far the cheapest and most affordable roof sheathing option your money can buy. It is a type of chipboard formed with compressed wood strands pressed together at high pressure and bound with synthetic resin. Due to the nature in which it is produced, oriented strand boards tend to warp and swell a lot faster than plywood.

The raw material for oriented strand boards is often made from young softwood, making it susceptible to damage from small insects. One advantage that oriented strand board has over plywood is that it comes in panels larger than 4 x 8 feet, coming as an advantage in larger spans but may pose a hassle during installation since the larger panels tend to be heavier than usual. Recent studies show that the use of oriented strand boards in homes may cause health problems.

The resin used in OSB emits low levels of formaldehyde, causing various illnesses to its occupants. Some builders would say that plywood could be a little bit too much for your home. Depending on the circumstance, plywood may be the type of roof sheathing for you.

Plywood is formed from thin sheets of wood veneer, pressed against each other at degree angles, then glued together at high pressure. When exposed to water, plywood tends to warp just like an oriented strand board. The main difference it has from OSB is that it does not disintegrate as rapidly. The large thin sheets that make-up plywood do not crumble easily, unlike oriented strand boards, making it a popular board choice among builders despite the cost. Using plywood as roof sheathing in contracts with a guarantee ensures the durability of the work done.

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Facebook Youtube Pinterest. Matt Greenfield No Comments. Then measure this distance from the peak to the tip of the rafter tail on the first and last rafter of the run and make a pencil mark. Snap a chalk line between the two pencil marks to make a cut line.

Cut each rafter tail on the chalk line with a circular saw to ensure that every rafter is the same length. 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. Align the long edge of the sheathing with the ends of the rafter tails, and the end of the sheathing opposite the edge of the roof centered on a rafter.

Nail the sheathing into place with a nail every 6 inches along each rafter with a framing nailer. HGTV suggests using nails with a longer nail shank and a larger diameter. Nail this sheathing into place with a framing nailer. Repeat with additional sheathing until you reach the end of the first row. Place a piece of sheathing above the first piece that was installed to begin the second row.

Slide the sheet one rafter width over the end of the roof, so the edge is centered on the next rafter, offset one rafter spacing from the first piece of installed sheathing from the row below. Complete the second row offset one rafter width from the first, then move onto the third row, and so on, until the last row extends past the peak of the roof.