Roof Crickets And Saddles

Installing a roof cricket.

Roof crickets and saddles.

Roof crickets can be covered with metal flashing or with the same material as the rest of the roof. A roof cricket is a ridge structure designed to divert water on a roof. According to the residential edition of the florida building code r903 2 2 and the international building code ibc the high side of any chimney or other roof penetration that is more than 30 inches wide requires a cricket or saddle. Roof crickets are found on the high side of a chimney or when one roof meets another.

Here s the code citation. The cricket or saddle basically rests on top of the house roof to visually extend the porch roof gracefully into the house roof. Smaller crickets are covered with metal flashing and larger ones can be covered with the same material as the rest of the roof. Crickets are also often referred to as saddles in this context.

2x8 sleepers should be nailed to the roof surface to pick up the ends of the rafters. Skylights installed per code are the only exception. The roof cricket is normally the same pitch as the rest of the roof but not always.