My roof from the 1960s is supported by 2x6 rafters, some 16ft long, with perlins and ties to hold everything together. It’s all in decent shape, but it’s a bit older and I want to make sure it stays that way (with weather changing and all). Particularly my rafters start to feel a little thin and I’m looking to insulate my roof so these rafters just don’t provide a whole lot of strength or much space for insulation (even filled with the highest R-value I wouldn’t meet code in the area where I am [Westchester, NY]).
In short, I’m looking to increase the size of my rafters and short of replacing them, the best I can think of is adding another 2x6 (or thicker) on top. I read in some places this can be done with a continuous bead of glue, several truss plates in both sides overlapping both rafters and (hurricane?) straps to pull them together. I’m wondering how much strength this would add and if there’s any problems I’m not foreseeing.
Does anyone have experience or thoughts on how best to approach this situation?
Many thanks!
