For heavy roofs or in areas with substantial snowfall or winds call your local building department for code requirements.
Header spans for covered porch roof.
The tables below give maximum spans for rafters and beams.
Ceiling joist span use this table to determine the maximum lengths of ceiling joists based on species of lumber joist spacing and joist size.
The smallest beams for patio covers are typically 4 by 6.
In the example the beam spans the 10 foot width of the roof.
The total load is 4 000 pounds.
Includes size and spacing tables for load bearing and links to related articles.
Jan 15 2017 a simple buying guide for beams and rafters that support patio roofs.
Window door garage door headers supporting roof loads only.
In general the maximum span for a 4 by 6 beam is 6 feet between 4 by 4 posts.
Build your patio cover or deck designing with roof rafter span tables board can span 16 ft for a wall pergola patio roof maximum beam rafter spanspatio roof beam calculatorpatio coversplease plete.
For a porch roof the beam needs to be sized according to the maximum snow loads in your area and you must know enough about the porch design to determine how the load will be distributed and over what distance the beam will carry the load.
Tables providing size selections for various beam spans and loading combinations for southern pine dimension lumber and southern pine glued laminated timber are available for the following applications.
A 4 by 10 can usually span up to 12 feet between posts.
If you move up to 4 by 8 you re usually allowed to span up to 10 feet between posts.
Rafter spans can be extended slightly beyond what the rafter tables suggest when there is a cantelever extending beyond the supporting wall.
Girder spans and header spans for exterior bearing walls maximum spans for douglas fir larch hem fir southern pine and spruce pine fir and required number of jack studs.