How To Build A Shed - Part 3 Building & Installing Rafters 

Shannon, thank you. I am a math teacher, and one of the most annoying question kids ask is " But when will I ever use this?" This video (with your permission) will become an excellent response. You did well with the explanation. I watch your videos in the hopes that one day I can do at least some of the work when I build my next home. I feel they are all well done. You are a natural teacher.

I have spent 50 years in construction and am now retired. You are the best teacher I have seen in construction. Thank you Carl

I own a small contracting business in Upstate New York and I can't tell you how many times I've watched your videos. I'm only now realizing I haven't been subscribed to your channel! You're a fantastic teacher and I genuinely appreciate you taking time out of your busy schedule to educate us. Thank you!

Man I'm a 3rd generation carpenter. I know own my own business carrying out the legacy. And I must say your a great teacher. I'm just watching the video for fun. But I like the way your showing ppl who don't know and weren't born Into this like I was. I love construction. It's fed my family for years. At least 40 yrs

Awesome. First explanation I've ever understood about calculating bird's mouths and how to mark rafters. You're the man, Shanny!

Shannon, I just happened upon your shed series and must tell you how instructive and helpful it was! Such clear explanations. Thanks so much,.

Love the geometry. Don't apologize for teaching the right way to do things dude. If people don't want to learn it, they'll find another video that suits them. Thanks for a great video!

Thanks Shannon. You are one of the few video instructors that I like listening to. Many never get to the point and they waste my time. You are to the point and a good teacher, easy to follow.

I think I've learned more from Shannon's videos than the 12 years I spent in public school.

Thank you Shannon.You have the gift of teaching. God bless you and your loved ones.

Can't wait to watch this video in class tomorrow!!

Awesome!! Tnx for using the right words so everyone can understand. I'm an Spanish speaking person and love the way you guide people step by step. Thumbs up!!

Great video! Calm, cool and precise in how you explain things to us novices. Keep them coming! When I build my deck, I'll be sure and review the quality tutorials you've taken the time to post.

Absolutely the best woodworking advice on RU-vid. I am a big fan of your videos and can't thank you enough for the teachings. Now time to go measure some rafters...

Thank you for the videos. 8 yrs ago @35yrs old i moved from the city to the country & began restoring our collection of old historic homes.. your videos have made my life so easy.. I just used this video to build myself an outdoor garden room. Thanks for sharing your wisdom.

Who actually went through and made them selves a shed but isn't a carpenter? Props to anyone who did!

I agree with the last commenter: VERY helpful, and not confusion at all! Thank you for taking the time to post your instructional videos.....I can learn so easily from them!

Really impressive, and thanks for taking out your time to help people, like myself in better learning to build a shed.

At about 19:35 - THANK YOU!!!!! You are literally the ONLY person on RU-vid who explained that the ridgeboard is going to be HIGHER than the initial measurement when cutting a birds mouth. i followed so many instructions that explained how to measure the distance and cut the seat cut, but it was too high for the ridgeboard and I couldn't figure out why. i went back to the geometry and realized that they were all leaving out the fact that you are actually, essentially, raising the rafter board (the hypotenuse) when you cut the birds mouth to have it sit there, so you also have to raise the ridgeboard by the same amount. I wish i had not spent an entire day making cuts and wasting boards trying to make it fit the initial triangle height in the first calculation! :( Anyway, YOU'RE THE BEST! Thanks for confirming what i eventually figured out. (i thought there's no way that could be right, since no one is mentioning it...but it turns everything i read/watched just failed to mention that the actual ridgeboard height is different with a seat cut involved.

Excellent. Once upon a time, in my late 20s, I worked as a carpenter with some good carpenter ’s for two or three years. Your videos have brought a smile as I remember the carpenter who taught me. You are a good teacher and explain things very well. Thanks for a good memory.

love this Video and presentation. Yep, hard to describe how this all works in a video, but you and crew do a great job on a difficult subject. thank you so much!

Thank you, this is the best explanation of this that I have ever heard.

To be quite frank.....this is the only truss video I was able to learn how to do this. I now feel comfortable making my own trusses for my shed now. Thanks for the video.....it works.

how awesome it is to see somebody using pen/pencil and paper, instead of a project calculator......the old school way of doing it....cool....I'm a grunt for a framer, and he is also pencil/paper type guy......he does some neat stuff, and we have done some great jobs/re-model historic buildings.....just finished up one in Philipsburg, Montana........opens in early/mid January 2016.....enjoying the holidays off, watching youtube videos trying to gets more smarter.....:)......thanks for your time, sir.....

Amazing video tricky in the beginning but very worth watching and understanding you are awesome man!

Good job! Now I know why I like truss. Much easier.

Good teacher. I was taught this at collage back in 1990 and to be honest Ive forgot it. I usually build a pair rafters on the floor and strap them together. To be offered up to see if they fit...This is done by cutting the plumb cut on the top of both rafters. If it's not known what pitch then just overlap the tops and bisect. A length of timber acts as the wall plate to mark the birds mouths. A third the width up from bottom of rafter width. The rise is determined by cutting both plum cuts first and joining the rafters together. We don't deduct the ridge thickness until the strapped rafters are offered up and it fits perfectly. Then it's dismantled and ridge deducted. Thanks for taking the time to expand. Greetings from the UK🇬🇧

Great video. The reason why is the math lesson was the best I've ever seen demonstrated. I used my numbers with a different slope and size and still had no problem figuring out my rafters. I don't think a math teacher could have done better.

How are there so many thumbs down on these videos? These are the best, most comprehensive videos I've seen on the topic. Very well done.

Really enjoy your video's. Thank you so much.

absolutely stellar intro. No flash just a cold stare.

I checked your website for the roof calculator and link took me to a hip roof/complex roof calculator that didn't work. If anyone goes to that site, search for Gable roof calculator. It works GREAT. By far the best calculator I've seen online or even in iOS app. Great graphics and very sensible. Cut my rafters and they just worked. perfect fit. And Shannon, you are a god send. So matter of fact, easy going, great information. No hype no issues and it all makes sense. You're responsible for a lot of DIYers gaining competence in the field. Thank you.

Great job sir you are a good teacher

small project ,but it 's basic to build a big one .thank u ur video.

thanks for al the great vidz Shannon. I lost my house and was lucky enough to move into my grand parents garage where ive been able to turn it into a stand alone house with a separate room and restroom along with a kitchen. everything from drain lines to pex supply lines even studs and dry wall. Woulnt have been able to do it without your vidz. They are the absolute best you can find with all the information you'll need. thanks again.

I'm building a 28x40 foot log cabin, I'm not a builder of any means but I havn't done too bad up to now. My complete knowledge of house-building came from books and You-Tube videos.... I guess I've seen about 500 videos and although you shed is only a few square meters, the principles are the same! You have the best video I have seen on roof building!!! Now I'm going to check out the rest of your video's. Thanks for the info

best teacher in the world RU-vid 24 hours a day great video!!!

The "Shit! Build-A-Shed! Series" are great.

Great video. You broke it down for us people that are "handy" but don't do this type of complicated work everyday. Thanks!

Fantastic seeing trigonometry & measurement in these videos; math observed not just in theory, but applied alongside real world examples. It's been a great tutorial.

Man it’s not fair when you have all the right tools and know what your doing. Lol. Great video

Exelente explicacion muchas gracias por conpartir tus conocimientos . Muy facil entender lo que haces

Finally sombody competent enough to successfully explain figuring those damn angles

You do not get us confused. Actually that little mat, help me a lot.

Excellent video ignore the haters they just jealous they living on food stamps a dss your obviously in employment. ITS A SHED!!! Not an extension or as you call it over the pond an addition brilliant vid mate keep it up I'm gonna apply your methods when I build my shed

A flat roof it is, then ;o) Seriously, though, these videos are just wonderful! Thank you so much.

Best explanation on rafters I have seen in you tube .... explained clearly

i can say i didn't know there was that much to building a shed but i understand why now you done all the things you did

"Shit build: Shed series" that should definitely be a new show 😂😂😂😂😂

Now I’ve actually seen the Pythagorean’s theorem applied outside a classroom setting..

At 19:20 You are the only person who covered the issue with the c cut. No one else realized that it changes the pitch.

This guy does a great job and uses common sense approach which is designed to be productive. You on the other hand have nothing better to do than criticize someone who is spending their own time trying to help people.

Pythagoras theorem used to find hypotenuse... great!...

Just want to point out, being an ophtalmologist, that you did not use your protective eyeglasses for most of the time. My advice to everyone is, do not neglect this. You could loose an eye; I have seen it happen many times in my professional career. And thanks for your great instructional videos.

Im very skilled for someone that dosent do this for a living but im going to build a 10 by 10 shed for my engines, i mostly looked on youtube for how to lay a built shed on the ground without have animals get under it... im going to use crushed gravel tamped with patio stone but i learned alot from your videos, you should go to a college or uninversity and teach woodworking you explain things so well i would swear you were a shop teacher.. great videos, Subcribed!!

Thank you so much for making the power tools quiet in the video. The saws are particularly loud and don't add much, thank you for takin' it easy.

thanks for the video How deep should a bird's beak be?

0:06

The calculations and explanations are excellent. This is the best explained rafter video that I have seen so far. I wanted the math rather than just the calculator. Thank you.

you are a humble man... never lose that attractive quality...

Hi! I appreciate the thoroughness of the video! One Question: Why is "1/2 of the ridge board thickness for the total rafter length @ top end" 13/16"? Why isn't it 3/4"? If a 2x4 is 1.5" wide then 1/2 of the width of a 2x4 should be .75. Or am I missing something?

0:06 shit build a shed LOL. Nice video.

I built a couple of sheds last summer and these videos would have saved me a bunch of time. On the first one I forgot to calculate the height of the birds mouth when calculating the hight of the ridge beam, oops! I think it would be worth it to have a supplemental video about calculating rafter spacing/thickness based on pitch and snow loading.

This video is one of the best in explaining how to build perfect roof rafter using slope and "L" ruler.

"we're in our third video of the shit-build-a-shed series."

At 5:34 half of the ridge-board deduction should be half of 1-1/2 which is 3/4 not 13/16?

Your video is Great. It was easy to follow, and it made perfect sense. I’m not confused.

I really appreciate this video, demonstrating the precise way to get exact and correct rafters, wether using a ridge board or building the truss and raising it. Knowing the mathmatics involved is a huge help, this will always work on first try if you do the math correctly. Knowing the "right way" to do it is never "over the top!"

Total rise (in this case) = 3 feet × 6 slope = 18"

lol "Shit build a shed series..." @ 0:05

I really appreciate the roof calculator. SO HELPFUL!

Hey Shannon you are world class at what you do, i have never even attempted building anything or even learned the basics. i was looking to buy prefab shed in uk cost £500 with base, very weak dry horrible shed and only 8x8, and decided to spend £500 on just chop saw, spirit level, tape measure and a load of wood. I watched countless videos on how to build a shed, some were helpful, some were more confusing. Then i found your videos watched them over and over for 1 DAY and have already built my shed frame and half of my roof, doorway with tremor studs and left space for future windows. (progress on my channel anyone) . Thanks for teaching clearly and better than anyone else i came across. Love from Scotland Bro Thanks Darren

Wouldn't it be easier to just make 3-4 little roof trusses especially since it's so small?

"shit, build a shed series" :)

Thank you brother for your patience to teach

I will never, ever build a rafter but I got sucked in with the easy explanation. It was mesmerizing. Thank you.

Did he say "Shit, build a shed series" ha!

Shit build a shed series?! Lol 😂

This is the best video set of building a shed that is available on the net. Great series!

finally! rafters explained that I can actually follow. great video.

So when my students ask when I'm I ever going to use this formula...

Am I the only one that thinks he looks like Dave from Gold Rush???

That cordless circular saw is truly amazing. So light and simple to use.

Shannon, this is the 83 year old, building a 9x12x 12H Bunky with my son. He works in the construction field and is busy making a living. So, if there are any mistakes, I correct them before he shows up.Things are going well ( with your helpful videos ) and dad looks like a qualified carpenter ( thanks Shannon ). Did everything your instructional videos said to do and we are now installing the rafters. We botched up a few before we got it right ( my fault ). I chose to use 2x6 lumber because of the height and the wind load. Also, anchored 8" dia. post ( 4ft. deep & 8ft. above ground ) at two points at each corner. We can experience some wild winds some times. Sure wish I had a nailer, my arm is paying the price for hammering so many nails. My wife still thinks I'm crazy. Ordered one of your T-shirts. Sent the wrong size But once again, I should have watched the video. We are 65-70% complete, thanks to you. Your help was the catalyst that gave me the confidence to even embark on a project so daunting.

This this how the MathUsing in Real life which my teacher never show us

he said shit build a shed series hahaha

watched a ton of instructional videos on framing....you by far are the best. thanks

I love your step by step approach to building. Thank you for making this series of videos, they are excellent !!!

do yourself a favour and go metric,we got rid of imperial and watching you stumble with fractions ,i can see why going metric was such a good idea ,greetings from Ireland

I am home due to covid 19, the wife wants a green house with old/used windows. I go walls up. My next function is the roof. your video was great to figure out the rafters. Thank you very much, BTW very practical way that you explain the math/equations. (4/23/2020) Gracias Muchacho.

Not confusing at all. You're a good teacher.

Hi Shannon! Thank you for making the details of how to mark and cut the roof rafters very simple to understand. You have explained the math very clearly! I have enjoyed following the progress of the shed construction. All your videos are very useful and informative. Thanks a lot! Kevin

Wish I would have seen this 2 years ago when a built a roof over my deck. It was my first build and it took hours to get the roof angles down for cuts. I had now idea a square could be used like that. Thanks Shannon.

Really helpful, thank you. Watching you work shows a lot that I would never get from reading.

You are an excellent instructor.

Great layman's explanation,.... I didn't use the hurricanes, just toe-nailed. Thank you!

Still the best explanation on how to work out your measurements,thanks for beeb patient

Great video, easy to follow and understand. Thanks!

The more times I watch this, the clearer it becomes. I've seen several different videos on rafter layout, and all are very similar except for small differences in their methods. You are a good teacher.