House I inspected today had not collar ties and no ridge board. It’s a 1948, 1,232 sf, 3/1. This situation was a first for me. There is separation where several of the rafters meet. The supports were generally two on either side of the center. Not having seen this before, is the separation normal or an indication of a serious issue. My thinking is, it’s been that way for a while, but it’s something you want to get a roofer to look at. I think the separation is the result of not having a rafter tie to keep them together in the middle. Am I wrong in this and how serious an issue is this? Thanks in advance for all you input. It’s been a long couple of days.
Ridge boards are not always required. When none, the rafter halves should be touching each other with no gaps. Traditionally, a plywood gusset plate (old school) was nailed at the ridge for strength.
Note: A Roofer only deals with sheathing and shingles/coverings. You need a carpenter/framer for structure work. A GC will use anybody they have that can “swing a hammer” (or pull a trigger).
There’s more to it, but that’s the gist of it.
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Fairly typical of plank sheathing of that era. See lots of plank sheathing supporting a metal roof (skip plank sheathing) in rural areas.
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Hey Jeffrey, Thanks for the info. I had a house earlier in the week that had the wood gusset plates. I also appreciate the NOTE: regarding the roofer. I’ll keep that in mind going forward.
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Agreed. IMO the gaps were caused by the lack of collar ties. Something that should be addressed before the damage gets worse.
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Missing collars ties.
Note: Collar ties is a tension tie ‘in the upper third of opposing gable rafters’ that is intended to resist rafter separation from the ridge beam as seen in your images. The purlin bracing is off…
Refer a licensed carpentry contractor stiffen the rafters.
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Dumb it down… whatever the design, is it, “performing as intended,” as the SOPs say? Easy, NO in this case.
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