Rafter: Wednesday’s Word Of The Week
 |
| Rafter with structural ridge |
Rafter: The second type of beam in our Word of the Week series (purlin was the first,) a rafter is a beam used on a sloped roof that runs up and down the slope (from eave to ridge.) Normal rafters are fully supported at both ends (by walls or other beams.) If a building does not have a structural ridge beam, then pairs of rafters need to be “tied” with a horizontal member to keep their lower supports from spreading.
 |
| Tied rafters |
*Wednesday’s Word Of The Week is a new feature on Unalam’s Wood Times Blog. Each Wednesday our structural engineer, Rik Vandermeulen, will discuss a new term associated with glulam manufacturing. He will do this until we run out of words. If there is a timber or glulam term that you have heard of and want to know more about, let us know in the comments.