Rafter
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- For the tennis player, see Patrick Rafter.
A rafter is a structural member, a type of beam, which supports the roof of a building. In home construction, rafters are typically made of wood. Exposed rafters are a feature of traditional roof styles.
In many buildings, rafters have been replaced by engineered trusses, normally because of span limitations and/or roof load (weight from above).
Carpenters build rafters to define the pitch of a roof. In the United States, roof pitch is measured as rise over run, usually in inches. For example, an "3:12 pitch" would mean 3 inches of rise over 12 inches of run. In Australia, roof pitch is measured in degrees.
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