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My shed roof caved in last week and I learned a hard lesson about snow load
I built my backyard shed 3 years ago in Buffalo, New York, and never thought about how much snow it could hold. Last Tuesday we got a foot of heavy wet stuff and I heard this loud crack around midnight. Went outside with a flashlight and the whole roof had buckled inward, splitting the plywood right down the middle. Turns out I used 2x4 rafters on 24 inch centers, which is way too weak for the snow we get here. Now I'm tearing it down and rebuilding with 2x6 rafters on 16 inch centers, plus a steeper pitch. Has anyone else had a roof fail on a backyard structure, or am I just the unlucky one who skipped the load calculations?
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stellat468d ago
Read a real eye opening article from some engineering blog that said most shed failures aren't from the roof weight alone, it's that people forget about the snow drifting off a house or garage right onto their shed. They called it the "snow shadow" effect and said it can double the load in one spot. Your roof probably took a beating from that too, not just the 12 inches you measured. Makes me wonder how many folks build sheds right next to their house without thinking about that extra snow piling up. Anyway, going with 2x6s on 16 inch centers should handle it fine, just make sure you also nail those rafter ties good and tight.
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pat_roberts558d ago
Take it from someone who's seen plenty of sheds, 2x4s on 24s can work fine if you brace them right but yours probably just needed better bracing.
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