Birdsmouth joint

Also called: birds mouth, birdmouth

A birdsmouth joint is a roof-framing joint in which a rafter, a sloping roof support, has a notch that seats on a wall plate, a horizontal support at the top of a wall.

The notch

The birdsmouth is the shaped notch in the rafter. Its two cut surfaces meet the top and face of the wall plate.

The framing parts

The rafter carries the sloping roof line, while the wall plate provides the surface on which the notched area rests.

Timbers for this joint

The Index records each joint against each timber as a cited hit, or as an absence. No source in the Index records this pairing. No pairings have been written yet.