• Behavioral Issues
• Child Care
• Cleaning Up After a Storm
• Communication
• Deciding To Stay Or Go
• Evacuation Shelters
• First Aid & Medical
• Flood Center
• Food and Water
• Help the Relief Effort
• Insurance Center
• Lighting & Power
• Pet Care
• Preparing Your Home
• Special Needs
• Storms Explained

Brace Gable End Roof Framing

Gable end roofs are more susceptible to damage from high winds than hip or flat roofs. The gable end presents a large, flat obstacle to the wind and receives its full force. If the framing of the gable end and the entire roof is not adequately braced to resist the wind, the roof can fail. Roof failures, especially in unbraced gable roofs, are a common cause of major damage to structures and their contents in high winds.

If your property has a gable roof, check to see whether the roof framing is braced. Some unbraced gable end roofs are truss roofs, but some gable end roofs are constructed with rafters rather than trusses. Both types should be braced. If you are unsure whether your gable end roof is adequately braced, check with your local building department. After inspecting your roof framing, a building official can tell you whether bracing is required and if so, how it should be added.

 

Benefits of Using This Mitigation Strategy

• Helps to prevent roof failure, which can lead to major damage of a structure and its
  contents
  
• Helps to prevent injuries to occupants
  

Tips

Keep these points in mind if you have bracing added to a gable end roof:

• Bracing can be added fairly easily, but you should have a contractor perform the work to make sure that the bracing is properly designed and attached.
  
• If you have a building official inspect your roof framing, ask about other changes you may be able to make to your property to protect it from high winds.
  

Estimated Cost

If you hire a contractor to brace a gable end roof, you can expect to pay about $100 for each gable end. Bracing longer gable ends may be slightly more expensive.

 

Other Sources of Information

• Institute for Business & Home Safety (IBHS), http://www.disastersafety.org.
  
• FEMA 247, Against the Wind: Protecting Your Home from Hurricane Wind Damage, December 1993, http://www.fema.gov/library/viewRecord.do?id=1641.
  
• FEMA 488, Hurricane Charley in Florida: Mitigation Assessment Team Report, Observations,
  Recommendations and Technical Guidance, Chapter 8, “Building Envelope Performance,” April 2005, http://www.fema.gov/library/viewRecord.do?id=1444.
  
• FEMA 489, Hurricane Ivan in Alabama and Florida: Mitigation Assessment Team Report, Observations, Recommendations and Technical Guidance, August 2005,
  http://www.fema.gov/library/viewRecord.do?id=1569.
  
• FEMA 499, Home Builder's Guide to Coastal Construction, Technical Fact Sheets No. 18, August 2005, http://www.fema.gov/library/viewRecord.do?id=1570.
  
• FEMA 549, Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf Coast: Mitigation Assessment Team Report, Building Performance Observations, Recommendations, and Technical Guidance, July 2006,
  http://www.fema.gov/library/viewRecord.do?id=1857.
  
• The Federal Alliance for Safe Homes (FLASH), http://www.flash.org.
  
• To obtain copies of FEMA documents, call the FEMA Publications Warehouse at 1-800-480-2520 or visit FEMA’s Library online at http://www.fema.gov/library.