Gable End Bracing

Your house has a gable end if you have a sloped roof with a vertical wall that forms a triangle under the end of the roof.

Gable end walls and the roof sheathing at the gable end can take a tremendous beating during a hurricane, and if not properly attached and braced, they fail and cause catastrophic damage to your home. However, of all the possible structural retrofits, gable end walls can be the easiest to strengthen and should be a high priority on your retrofit list.

Areas of concern:

• The number one issue with gable ends is the attachment of the roof sheathing at the gable end. If you have re-roofed and re-nailed the rood deck, you have gone a long way towards reducing damage at gable ends. If you have not strengthened the roof sheathing attachment, you can use adhesives to temporarily strengthen the sheathing attachment.
• Most gable end walls of older houses are weaker than they should be to withstand a hurricane and are poorly connected and braced.

The following actions are recommended to strengthen and properly brace a gable end wall.

1. Anchor and brace the bottom of the gable end's triangular wall to the ceiling joists or ceiling framing.
2. Strengthen the gable end wall studs.
3. Brace the top of the gable end wall by tying it to the rafters or tops of the trusses.