Jeff:

I started out in the business in the mid-70's as a framer's helper. After framing about 100 houses I and another helper were allowed to frame a gable roof on a big two-storey house. We didn't install the rafters opposing one another, though we had been taught to do just that.

The foreman, a gruff old German named Art Koenig, saw what we had done, climbed up the ladder with his rig axe, and proceeded to knock the whole damned thing down to the ground. He then sent us home for the rest of the day to think about it. On that next payday we found the cost of the materials for that roof deducted from our checks.

After that we always opposed all rafters whether at ridges, hips or valleys. To do otherwise would have meant our jobs.

OK, so it's not in the written code. It is in the unwritten code for real carpenters. And yes, there are still a few of them above ground.

Aaron