SHED BUILDING VIDEO 9 OF 15
How to Build and Install Shed Soffit Ladders
Learn how to build and install soffit ladders (Roof Rakes) for your shed or other projects. Step-by-step guide & video to build professional gable overhangs.
Taught by Henry Reinders, a professional builder, renovator and woodworker with more than 45 years of hands-on experience.
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0:09 Prepare temporary supports for the ladders
Install temporary support blocks that hold the soffit ladders at the correct height during fitting.
1:18 Measure the required gable-overhang length
Measure from the sub-fascia to the roof peak on both slopes before cutting the ladder rails.
1:47 Cut ladder rails and blocking
Henry shows how to cut the angled rails and five blocking pieces used in each gable-overhang ladder.
3:25 Assemble each ladder square and straight
Assemble each ladder on a flat surface and keep the rails square, straight and evenly spaced.
5:05 Clamp the ladder in its final position
Set the completed ladder on its support blocks and clamp it temporarily at the gable end.
5:22 Fasten the soffit ladders to the shed
Align the paired ladders at the peak, then fasten them through the framing into the end truss.
6:50 Trim the ladder ends after installation
Trim the projecting sub-fascia ends flush after the ladders are fully aligned and secured.
7:54 Respect overhang limits and use material efficiently
Henry explains the practical overhang limit for this method and how the layout minimizes material waste.
WANT TO BUILD THIS SHED?
Complete Plans When You’re Ready
Use the video tutorials to help build the shed. Use the plans for exact dimensions, drawings, material lists, construction sequence and the included Excel costing sheet.
Shed Soffit-Ladder Quick Reference
These framed extensions support the roof overhang. The peak joint matters more than hitting an exact spacing number.
Key specs at a glance
- Ladder depth: typically not more than 16 inches to prevent sagging
- Block spacing: roughly 16-inch intervals starting at the peak – not critical if it differs by an inch or two
- Peak joint: align 30-degree ends and clamp before fastening
- Measuring: measure each side separately if you’re not using the plans at exact measurements
Common mistakes to avoid
- Assuming both sides match without measuring when you’re not using the plans directly or measurements are not bang on
- Skipping temporary support recommendations and trying to align and clamp alone
- Building the overhang depth more than 16 inches – potential sagging over time
- Fastening the peak joint before clamping it into alignment – may pull out of alignment
- Treating the 16-inch block spacing as critical when it mainly affects support, not finish
PROJECT RESOURCES
Need a Budget? Price the Project Before You Build
Download the free Excel costing sheet to enter current local prices, provided for both shed plan sizes and both old and recent Excel formats (just in case you need the older file format).
Frequently Asked Questions
Questions are based on the topics covered in this video and common questions Henry receives from customers via email.
What are soffit ladders or roof-rake ladders?
They are optional framed extensions attached to the gable ends to create and support the roof overhang. Typically not more than 16″ deep. Watch at 0:09
Should both sides be measured separately?
Yes and No. If you follow our plans exactly you should be able to build these at the sizes shown in the plans. If you are not using our plans, yes, measure each side from the sub-fascia to the peak because small framing differences can change the required ladder length. Watch at 1:18
How far apart are the ladder blocks?
The page lays them out at 16-inch intervals beginning at the roof peak. But this is not critical as it should not affect the finish material applied later. Watch at 1:47
Why install temporary support blocks first?
The blocks hold the ladders at the sub-fascia while they are aligned and clamped, which is especially helpful when working alone. Watch at 0:09
How are the two ladders joined at the peak?
Align their 30-degree ends, clamp both ladders and fasten them together after they are secured to the gable framing. Watch at 5:22
Complete Video Transcript
Use the expandable transcript to read Henry’s instructions found in this video – with timestamps linked to each section in the video.
Open the complete video transcript
Welcome to CountryLifeProjects.com. I’m Henry Reinders. This is video nine of 15 videos in our shed project. In this video, I’m going to be showing you how to build and install the ladders for our sophet overhang. It’s also known as a rake. It’s very easy to do. And uh let’s get started with the layout next. Okay, we finished our SmartSide panels, both front and back of the shed. We’ve also installed on the back of the shed, as you can see by the inset, the ladders for our gable end overhangs. I’m going to now show you how to do the ladders on the front here. And I want also want to point
out before we get started that we put blocking here on our set and our side set on this side here. That is actually going to hold our ladders while we put them into place and screw them into place. That’s really handy if you’re working on your own. Even if even if you’re not, it’s nice for lining them up. Now, the first thing to do when you’re starting your ladders is you want to get a measurement to the peak of your roof. So, you measure from your subfacia 2×4 down here, right to the very peak of your truss rafter. Do that for both sides. They should be the same. If not, take the measurements separately and make a note of which side is left,
which is right. But if they’re the same, you won’t have to worry about it. So, I’ve already cut two pieces to fit in here. And I’m going to show you why it’s important to check these before you actually assemble your ladders. We’re going to put this one in first because I have my bracing here for the trusses. I can easily clamp that in place while I grab the other one. I’m making sure that is butted tight to the subfacia board. Grab the other one for the other side. Make sure it’s tight at the bottom there, too. We put these together. And if these are in line and in line with the peak, then your sizing is okay. You can make
the uh outside rafter for both of these for your ladders. And now that we know these are okay, I’m going to come down. I’m going to show you how to mark these out. For marking off our ladders, you’ll see why they call them ladders in a minute. The you need one on the end here, which is the blocking we have cut here. These are 8 in long. Combined, our overhang is 11 in. That’s important because that’ll save you money on material because you’ll be able to use exact sizing on lumber. So overall should be 11 in. Now we’re going to be doing 16in centers. It’s not really critical. There’s nothing that we’re going to be nailing into that that
uh has to match up, but it uh it just works out quite well for our blocking. So, you’re going to need five 8 in blocks total for each ladder. I’m going to mark these across in a second, but I want to show you something here. At the peak, where you have your 30° angle here, you want this block here to start right at this edge so that when your ladders are assembled, you have backing on both sides of your peak. Once we have them installed, I’ll just point that out again so you see exactly what I’m talking about. So, I’ll finish marking these off. I’m going to screw these together. And once
we have that done, I’ll show you how we install them. It’s really easy. Wow. Okay, that’s both of our ladders done. Obviously, you can see why they call them ladders. We’re going to get those installed next. It’s very simple. I’ll do that right now. Okay. Now, remember, we got blocking on our subfacia. So, we just have to drop our ladder in there. I’m going to clamp this side. Hang on. Got it backwards. There we go. That wouldn’t work too well. Clamp this in place temporarily while we grab the other one. Do the same thing with that one. Once these two are together, as you can see, I don’t have to worry about that one falling.
Now, what you want to do, make sure they’re lined up and take the clamp off of this one. Now, like I said, they’re not going to go anywhere. Going to drop that down there. Just have a look on the top. Make sure they’re lined up. Once you know they’re lined up, then you can start screwing them through the 2×4 into the rafter behind it. You do that from top or bottom. One screw about every 16 inches should be more than enough on the top. And then the same thing on the bottom. And I’m going to line these up and screw this ladder to that ladder through the top before I finalize the screwing in of that one there.
Just to make sure this is nice and flush. That’ll be important when we do our fascia boards. Now that I have that screwed together, I can screw it to the wall. And I’m going to carry through finish screwing off both of these ladders. Once we’re done with that, I can screw it to the subfascia on both ends. When that’s done, we can just trim off the subfasia. Our ladders are done. And uh from there, we can start putting the sheathing on our roof. Okay, we finished off our ladders. One thing I wanted to mention with this system here, you don’t really want to go more than 16 in overhang with this system. Uh beyond that,
the tendency will be in the future this might start to sag a little bit. Up to 16 in, you’re okay. Especially if you use 1/2 in sheathing for your roof, which we are on the shed now. We went 11 in. And there’s a reason for that. Our shed is 9 ft 9 in long. And with this overhang with 22 in, 11 in on either end, we have 11 ft 8 in. Now, when you start doing your fascia material, you can buy 12footers, and you’ll be able to miter the ends, and you won’t have to lose much in the way of material. If we had built the shed 10 ft, made these 12-in overhangs,
then you would end up having to buy 14 ft lengths of material. The same applies to the trims we’re going to use on the top and bottom of the shed on the walls, as well as in the width. We have 7’9 in. The reason for that is the same. So we are so that’ll just help you save a lot of money. So we are done with our framing. In the next video I’ll show you how to do the sheathing. We’re using half inch and there are some spacing requirements and so on and we’ll go over those in next
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