# Shed style porch rafter span and spacing



## sjjacks (Apr 13, 2007)

I will be building a porch for my son's house in Smyrna, Ga. The deck to be covered will be 13' to 14 ft. wide. For the roof, Can I use 2x6 rafters 24 oc for this span. The rafter will be well supported at the deck end (2x6 double beam) and tied into the existing house wall. The pitch will be about 1 inch per ft or slightly less and the roof will be plywood or osb with tarpaper and shingles. There is seldom any snow here. (1 inch at most). Am I ok with this or do I have to go to 2x6 16oc or 2x8 24oc.

Would appreciate advice. I usually overbuild but would like to do this correctly but inexpensively. 

Thanks in advance for any help you can give me


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## sjjacks (Apr 13, 2007)

no special budget


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## Ron6519 (Mar 28, 2007)

sjjacks said:


> I will be building a porch for my son's house in Smyrna, Ga. The deck to be covered will be 13' to 14 ft. wide. For the roof, Can I use 2x6 rafters 24 oc for this span. The rafter will be well supported at the deck end (2x6 double beam) and tied into the existing house wall. The pitch will be about 1 inch per ft or slightly less and the roof will be plywood or osb with tarpaper and shingles. There is seldom any snow here. (1 inch at most). Am I ok with this or do I have to go to 2x6 16oc or 2x8 24oc.
> 
> Would appreciate advice. I usually overbuild but would like to do this correctly but inexpensively.
> 
> Thanks in advance for any help you can give me


You mention the width but not the span from house to 2x6 double beam. If the 13'-14' is the actual span then you would be at the outer limit for a 2x8 and I would go to a 2x10 joist, 16" on center.
The 1" per foot pitch is too small for shingles. Minimum is 3" in 12" .
Ron


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## Wildie (Jul 23, 2008)

You're fortunate that you don't have to contend with snow load.
I had to build for a 50 lb/s.f. snow load. My beam is 3- 2X10's over a 12' span.
I would recommend that you would use 16" o.c. for your rafters as this gives less waste of the roof sheeting! A couple of bucks for the extra rafters isn't much. And the roof will be stronger. I would think that wind would be a consideration in your area, and extra rafters will help hold the roof down.


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