JLC • NEW ENGLAND EDITION • MAY 1995
We recently completed an oceanfront
house with a complex gambrel roof.
The roof was a challenge to frame for
two main reasons — not only were
there four large cross gables intersecting
the main ridge at various heights, but
the lower sections of the gambrels were
curved, to create "swept" eaves.
The roof was supported with structural
ridge beams and purlins — an
assortment of Parallams, flitch beams,
and steel I-beams (see Figure 1). In
most cases, the purlins of the secondary
gambrels intersected and were supported
by the purlins of the main roof; in
one case, the ridge of the cross gambrel
was much lower and intersected the
purlin