Aunty Lulu
Registered User
So, here is the framing that I did. I'm waiting for the roofers to show up and put the actual skylights in.
So, one thing I learned after fighting to fit the first rafter in at full size- IT WON'T FIT FROM THE INSIDE!! I thought maybe I would be able to turn it sideways or nip the point of the top- but no! So, after checking with a building inspector, I cut 1-1/2" off at the bottom of the rafter (When in place, it actually ended up being more like 2.5" and it didn't matter which end I cut). This gave it the wiggle room I needed. I then put in a block at the bottom for it to rest on.
When putting the rafter in I tied a rope to the top of the rafter and put it through a small hole next to the existing rafter to pull it up (and hold it there while I screwed it into place). It worked pretty easily after I cut the bit off the bottom.
It would have gone into place full length if I had put it in from the outside but I would have had to cut all the deck boards out (they are re-decking the roof).
An interesting find when I exposed the rafters was, when they built the house, they used a 2x4 as the bottom plate. So you have a 2x6 cut at a 45 degree angle (which makes a resting edge of nearly 8.5") resting on 3.5". Strange! When I redo the flooring, I may put a block under the inside edge of the rafters because I see some cracking on some of the rafters where they (don't) rest on the 2x4". The photo is of my neighbor's house which actually has the 2x4 at the edge of the rafter point (even worse than mine which was roughly in the middle of the 2x6)
Also, in one pic, you can see an electric line running out from the between the roof deck boards- NOT MY HANDY WORK!. And its coming out! Also those J-boxes were mudded over- another no-no.
Thanks for all of your input.
And the moral of the story is if a 60 year "old" lady can do this alone- so could you!
Still awaiting the inspection....
So, one thing I learned after fighting to fit the first rafter in at full size- IT WON'T FIT FROM THE INSIDE!! I thought maybe I would be able to turn it sideways or nip the point of the top- but no! So, after checking with a building inspector, I cut 1-1/2" off at the bottom of the rafter (When in place, it actually ended up being more like 2.5" and it didn't matter which end I cut). This gave it the wiggle room I needed. I then put in a block at the bottom for it to rest on.
When putting the rafter in I tied a rope to the top of the rafter and put it through a small hole next to the existing rafter to pull it up (and hold it there while I screwed it into place). It worked pretty easily after I cut the bit off the bottom.
It would have gone into place full length if I had put it in from the outside but I would have had to cut all the deck boards out (they are re-decking the roof).
An interesting find when I exposed the rafters was, when they built the house, they used a 2x4 as the bottom plate. So you have a 2x6 cut at a 45 degree angle (which makes a resting edge of nearly 8.5") resting on 3.5". Strange! When I redo the flooring, I may put a block under the inside edge of the rafters because I see some cracking on some of the rafters where they (don't) rest on the 2x4". The photo is of my neighbor's house which actually has the 2x4 at the edge of the rafter point (even worse than mine which was roughly in the middle of the 2x6)
Also, in one pic, you can see an electric line running out from the between the roof deck boards- NOT MY HANDY WORK!. And its coming out! Also those J-boxes were mudded over- another no-no.
Thanks for all of your input.
And the moral of the story is if a 60 year "old" lady can do this alone- so could you!
Still awaiting the inspection....
