Re: Raise The Roof!
Linda Berens
We are so excited for our 5th annual Raise the Roof event on Saturday, September 14, 2024 from 11:30-1:30pm. KBUL on-air personality and Catholic Charities supporter, JJ Christy will perch atop our building braving the elements until we raise $150,000 to help fund our poverty assistance programs.
Catholic Charities continues to see an increase in need, and the numbers continue to build daily. Because of the kindness of our community, we have been able to be the safety net for individuals and families as they struggle to put food on the table, pay rent and utilities and simply meet their basic needs. Catholic Charities of Northern Nevada is addressing the root causes of poverty by encountering and accompanying those living in poverty on a journey to economic equality and the realization of a meaningful and purposeful life. Your support of our Raise the Roof event will allow us to continue to provide services to those trying to survive and then thrive.
I created a rectangular house and auto built a trussed gable roof with a 8:12 itch and a 16" energy heel using the "raise off plate" in the Build roofs dbx. All is good, section shows correct heel height.
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Based on our calculations, it costs an average of $31,333 to $55,000 to raise a roof. However, some homeowners can pay up to $90,000. Your price will be on the higher end of this range if you require complete roof replacement. Your home size and roof frame type have the biggest impact on your roofing project cost.
It costs more to raise the roof on larger homes than smaller ones because they require more materials and labor. However, a complex roof on a small house may cost more to raise than a simple, flat roof on a larger house.
If your home has a chimney, raising the part of your roof adjacent to the chimney can cost an extra $500 to $5,000. This is because working around chimneys is complex. Sometimes, the entire chimney may need to be removed and replaced. We recommend consulting a roofer to understand how much working around a chimney will add to your total.
Many homes have electrical wires that run above the ceiling. Licensed electricians should complete any alterations to electrical lines. These professionals charge $50 to $150 per hour based on their experience level.
The cost of these changes depends on your HVAC system and home layout. We recommend asking your roofing company whether you need an HVAC technician to complete the work or if they can handle any relocation for an additional cost.
Professional roofing contractors charge $1.50 to $3 per square foot in addition to material costs. Alternatively, they may charge by the hour. Anything that makes the job more difficult or time-consuming will increase labor costs. For example, if your home is more than three stories or you have a complicated roof design. Hiring a general contractor to supervise the project will add another 10% to 20% to your total.
Building up is typically cheaper. This is because it requires less material and labor than adding new rooms. For example, adding 1,000 square feet as a second floor requires less wood, roofing materials, and labor than a new section requiring practically everything that goes into building a new home.
And although almost any roof can be raised, the cost of raising a very large or complex roof may outweigh the benefits. From a feasibility standpoint, the best candidates for raising are gable roofs on smaller, simpler homes.
Instead, the walls have to be made taller from the bottom up. One way to do that is by installing new, taller wall studs alongside the existing studs. Another method is covering the existing wall and new kneewall with full-height plywood sheathing to eliminate the hinge.
Thanks to everyone with all of the advice on setting roof trusses in a previous post. Trusses are up and braced- sheathing this weekend. The trusses withstood 40-50 mph gusts this past week, I was more than a little nervous.
So now I have a problem to deal with. I can either lower the existing top plate by the 1 and 1/2 inches needed to accomodate or I can raise the plane of the existing roof. For a variety of reasons, I like the idea of raising the existing roof plane. It will involve fixing some fascia and overhangs, but those considerations appear pretty minor.
I also thought about raising the new trusses a few inches and breaking the plane completely. But for aesthetic reasons, I would rather match the planes so they are continuous across the seam of the existing house and the addition. I also worry that by only separating the planes by a few inches, I may be creating problems with snow melt, etc, as this detail may be a little tough to prevent water infiltration.
In choice one I assume you will have to lower the trusses section by cutting the wall studs down one by one and renailing them to the floor plate? This would make your ceiling a little lower than you would like?
In scenario 2 going over top with insulation would put insulation in a place it does you no good unless you have a cathedral ceiling. If your attic ceiling is insulated that is where you want to add insulation not the roof. If your attic is vented the new insulation would be useless and not cost effective. Your right about the osb/insulation product though its best used for cathedral ceilings where it would add to the insulation r- total.
In scenario 3 sleepers and new osb is a good option but requires you to purchase new sheathing and refit fascia/rakes. If you don't have good attic vents now would be a good time to address the issue with venting above the fascia with the gap you create.
Scenario 4 is I think the better option than three because you don't have to purchase new sheathing provided you save and reuse what you have. It allows you to raise the level of the rafters and create more room for insulation above the walls in the attic where your baffles are installed. It comes down to time or money! If you have the extra time to remove and replace the sheathing you can save the cost on sheathing. If you can make more money elsewhere and have limited time then sleepers over top is the choice.
First is to slide the trusses over on the walls a bit. Every 1 1/4" you can slide them will gain you 1/2" in height. Obviously this will change your overhang lengths and fascia heights, so it may not work well.
Depending on where the plate is on the heel of the truss, you may be able to notch the bottom chord over the bearing a bit. (Again, after consulting the truss manufacturer) That changes your ceiling height a bit, so that may be a problem.
If you have a double top plate AND the studs in the wall align with the truss layout , then I would remove the top-top plate from under the trusses.. Use metal plate connectors and drop your trusses.
Second option for me would be to strap the tops of the EXISTING roofs trusses or rafters with 2x material and lay sheathing over the entire roof area of both the addition and the existing . That would bring everything into alingment at both the eaves and the ridge, Need to box the soffit to hide the different depth of rafters though.
Ridge vent and cut opening thru the existing roof to allow for venting.
Thanks for the responses everyone. Currently have a call in to inspector to see if notching the top of the two top plates is an option (in his eyes). This will fit with BH and Dovetails suggestions. Walls are framed with 2x6 and are 8' long with a window in the middle. There is a lot of meat supporting those top plates. 20' span overall so I am hoping the inspector will OK this process. Dove- what's your take on the necessity of removing the shething for the second method you mention? My real concern with that method is trapping moisture and creating a problem for myself long term. The soffit and rake fix won't be a problem. I've got enough room to rework those so everything will still line up.
FWIW I am now leaning toward solution #2
My take is that if you cut holes thru the existing roof, say 8" sq. top and bottom of each existing rafter bay then you shouldn't have a problem. Just make sure you are venting both areas , the old one under the existing roof and the new one created by the overlay.
I would strip off any old roofing material though. I hate trying to track leaks thru old roofing. The more I think about this solution the more I actually prefer it. It leaves you the double plate, allows you to lay sheathing across the seam between the roofs which will help blend the roofs. Both of which are advantageous in my opinion.
dovetails second is a good one. it is commonly done to create a cold roof system and will not trap moisture. Go right over the old sheathing first with tarpaper,then strapping sized right and follow up with new sheathing on all. edited to add :
you could even add a ply of insulatrion board - given an ich and half needed shim up, you could use 3/4" EPS and 3/4" strapping screwed through it.
The roof raise was the single project (so far!) about which we had the greatest amount of uncertainty and doubt. We are happy to report that, not only was the roof raise successful, it was much less challenging than we had expected. We put in the time and effort in the planning and prep work, which allowed the actual raising of the roof to be (relatively) effortless, albeit a bit scary.
Every bus is different, which means every roof raise will be different, but the concepts are similar throughout the roof raise process. As most of you probably know, we have a flat-nose, front-engine bus.
We originally wanted to cut off the entire top of the bus and lift it to have a full roof raise. In the end, we decided this was more risk and work than it was worth. To make the best of it, we modified our rooftop deck plans to accentuate the new roof raise.
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