Sagging Roof Between Rafters

Also inspect the metal or plywood gusset plates used where your wood meets on a truss.

Sagging roof between rafters.

When sagging gets too severe it can lead to roof collapse and once the roof goes the house won t last for long. A sagging roof line may original from the ceiling s horizontal rafters. Grab a flashlight and head up to your attic to inspect your roof rafters and decking specifically those where your roof is sagging. Typically they are lapped and then toe nailed together in its center so that the correct length can be achieved.

Prevent this unfortunate series of events by bracing your rafters to make them sturdy and resistant to snow loads and wind. Determine where the sag is in your roof in relation to your attic. Sagging rafters can lead to serious problems with the entire roofing system. Sagging sheathing between rafters may be due to rot delamination use of fiberboard or other materials that may not perform well over the life of a home or due use of too thin plywood roof decking to start with.

In this case the problem was due to a combination of poor attic ventilation and two bathrooms with vent fans dumping moist air into the attic. Here s another view of the same roof shown at the top of the page and you can see that the sagging extends over a large area. Drywall instead of 5 8 in. Other potential causes include damaged roof decking or even an underlying foundation problem.

The fix here is to replace the thin sheathing with thicker sturdier sheathing. Half inch drywall can sag if it s hung under roof trusses that are spaced every 24 in. If so i bet the installers used 1 2 in. If the roof sags between the rafters or trusses the most likely cause is sheathing that s too thin for the area it covers.

When you notice a roof sagging in between trusses it is usually the result of a damaged or broken roof rafter. If your ceiling drywall is sagging between joists sometimes called pillowing it s probably on the top floor and attached to the roof trusses. Before fixing the problem however it is important to identify the exact cause of the problem. If the framing is sound and problems are not found elsewhere but the roof still sags the problem might have originated because of poor installation of the plywood sheathing or shingles.