Owner Builder Got A Deal On 36 To 42 Foot Roof Joists A Lumber Yard Rarely Sells, Then Five People Set Two Thirds Of The Big Roof In One Morning

Roof beams that run 36 to 42 feet long are not something most lumber yards keep stacked by the door. @buildwithbuzz, an owner builder in Montana, says he got a good deal on a pile of them for exactly that reason. They are sizes the yard does not sell very often.

Wooden roof beams framed against a clear blue sky on a house build.

His tip is simple. A lot of times you can walk into a yard and ask whether they will give you a deal on odd sizes, and that is exactly what he did.

Five People, A Beautiful Day, And Two Thirds Of The Roof Up By Lunch

The big roof was next after the living space roof was pretty much dried in. Standing about 35 feet from the top of the exterior wall to a big LVL beam, he figured one of his long engineered joists, which he calls BCIs, at around 36 feet was the right fit for the job.

The morning got away from him, and he says he did not pick up the camera until after lunch. But by then the crew had already set a good two thirds of that roof.

He called in extra help, and the five of them worked as a team.

“It’s All About Systems And Processes” When The Material Is That Long

Here is how the assembly line worked, by his account. Jeremiah and Ethan prepped each joist and put in the web stiffening. They passed it up to Jeff and Jim, who stood on scaffold and ladders. Then it went up to the top, where he took it.

He stood the joist up, saddled it into the hanger for a tight fit against the LVL, and drove a 1 and 1/2 inch structural screw from Simpson Strong-Tie into the bottom flange. That held it long enough for Jim to line up the layout mark and for Jeff to line up his mark at the top plate on the exterior wall.

Jeff and Jim then drove 5-inch Simpson big lag screws with fat heads down through the flange into the LVL at mid-span. Jeff also went down through the cant strip at the top plate. While they did that, he filled in the screws on the ear flanges of the brackets, so the work kept moving.

After the first handful, he says, the whole thing started moving pretty quick, because while one joist was being attached the next was already being prepped.

Wind Was Coming, So Bracing Went On Before Dark

With a good wind expected that night, Jeff and Jim added W and X bracing across the tops of the joists to keep them from rolling. The next day, the crew installed the 5/8 ZIP roof sheathing. The morning went to overhangs, and by the end of that day the entire roof was sheeted.

It took two days in all: joists on day one, sheathing and taping on day two. He says a strict timeline meant he did not get all the camera angles he wanted.

He Admits It Looks Expensive, Then Explains Why He Paid $40 A Sheet

He knows the sheathing choice raises eyebrows. Compared with OSB, which still needs an underlayment, he says ZIP is both his water-resistant barrier and his air barrier once the seams are taped with flashing tape.

In his market, he says, OSB runs about $11 or $12 a sheet and ZIP is about $40 a sheet, depending on who you go to. Still, he sees it as investing in the materials that actually build the house: insulated concrete forms, insulated sheathing and heavy-duty roof sheathing.

His goal is to climate control the house with a wood stove and a mini split, with no furnace at all. The sheathing is rated for 180 continuous days of sun and weather exposure, which he says helps in case he does not reach the metal roof this winter. That all depends, he stresses, on proper installation and flashing tape.

The Beam That Bowed A Quarter Inch, And The Fix

Back in the loft a month later, he shows what he changed. He had first used a 1 and 3/4 by 8-inch LVL as a mid-span support. After a few weeks, he noticed it was bowing about a quarter of an inch between posts.

The fix was to add a bigger LVL, 1 and 3/4 by 12 inches, to push up and even out all of the joists. They now rest on that beam as well as the other one behind it.

Some viewers had questioned how the LVLs attach to the posts. He did not notch the posts, because they are glulam structural columns. Cutting 2 inches into a post that is about 4 and 1/2 by 5 and 1/2 inches would have been too far into the meat. Instead he used 14-inch carriage bolts through the LVL and post, plus 8-inch lags, and says he does not think it is going anywhere.

Two Leaks In A Month, Both From Torn Tape

A month in, he reports two leaks. Both traced back to spots where tape had been kicked or torn at a seam. Apart from that, he says the roof held up well through some snow and melt.

The payoff, in his telling, is skipping underlayment that would need to go on right after sheathing. He says wind in his area can rip underlayment clean off, and he has seen it happen to a couple of houses in the neighborhood.

Smart Takeaways For Anyone Building Or Reroofing

Ask your lumber yard about odd or long sizes they rarely sell. A deal may be waiting.
Plan a crew with set jobs, so one team preps while another lifts.
Brace long joists right away if wind is coming.
Inspect every seam of roof tape after a storm and patch any tear fast.
Follow manufacturer instructions, and talk to your own inspector about your loads.

He is the first to say he is never going to be an expert and that these are just the methods that work for him. Still, a good deal, a good crew and a plan got a very big roof up in a day.

Willow and Hearth