What Is Roof Sheathing

Roof sheathing is the material that goes on top of your roofing structure including the trusses and beams that the roofing system is constructed on.

What is roof sheathing.

To stabilize the rafters support the roofing material and hold the entire roof together roof sheathing is installed. Similar to exterior wall wood sheathing roof sheathing includes plywood oriented strand board and waferboard. Roof sheathing or decking is one of those elements. When one slope is completely sheathed pop a chalk line down any slope edge as in a hip roof that needs to be cut at an angle.

It spans the rafters to support the roofing and in the case of panel sheathing such as plywood or osb it acts as a diaphragm with the walls to resist horizontal loads. Roof sheathing basics the skeleton of a roof is formed with rafters or trusses generally spaced 16 inches or 24 inches apart from the center of one rafter to the center of the next. Sheath one slope of the roof at a time ripping the top course to the needed width at the ridge. Osb is lightweight relatively inexpensive and strong enough to resist bending or breaking should someone walk on the roof.

Roof sheathing attaches to the surface of the rafters or trusses to form the structural skin of the roof. The trusses and beams of the roof give the roof its initial pitch and structure and then the sheathing is applied so the actual underlayment and roof covering can be applied. Your roofer will attach your shingles to these squares or planks of wood. Roof sheathing is structural providing lateral bracing of roof framing members and it carries both live and dead loads from above to the rafters and trussesbelow.

Most houses contain a weak link in the connection of the roof sheathing to the rafters or roof trusses making them vulnerable to loss of roof sheathing in severe winds but solutions to this.