Understanding Connections: How Many Screws Does Your Roof Need?

When you're staring down the blueprints for your new 28-foot wide house, understanding the specifics can be game-changing—especially when it comes to connecting those steel ceiling joists to the rafters. You may find yourself asking, "How many screws will I actually need?", and that’s a totally valid question. Let’s get into it.

Here’s the thing: the short answer is 6 screws. Yep, that’s right! But let’s break this down a bit so you can see why.

First off, we’re working with a ground snow load of 50 pounds per square foot (psf). Sounds technical? It can be! But think of it like this: it’s just how much weight your roof has to deal with due to snow. As you might imagine, living in a snowy area means you’ve got to beef up your structural connections to handle that extra weight.

Now, about that roof pitch. We’re looking at a 5:12 pitch, which translates to a vertical rise of 5 units for every 12 of horizontal run. Just picture that slope—it's not too steep, but it’s enough to influence how the load gets distributed across your joists and rafters. More pitch means more force pushing down from above, and that’s why you need to consider the right number and type of fasteners.

Using 6 No. 10 screws strikes a nice balance for stability and safety. Building codes often serve as a reliable guide on how many fasteners to use, based on a whole range of factors, including your specific dimensions and loads. In this case, the six screws provide the necessary grip to hold everything together, while still giving you a safety buffer because let’s be honest, you can never predict the weather perfectly—anyone who’s shoveled a driveway can tell you that!

But it’s crucial to get this right. Imagine all that effort put into constructing your house—only to find out later that a couple of screws were missing from those connections. Not a fun scenario, right?

Ultimately, understanding the number of screws required for your connections isn’t just about compliance with building codes; it’s about ensuring your home stands strong against nature’s whims. It’s a pretty engaging puzzle of sorts, where all the pieces need to fit snugly together for the system to function optimally.

So, when preparing for your Construction Supervisor License exam and these sorts of questions pop up, you can now answer confidently. Six screws is your magic number for connecting those steel ceiling joists to the rafters. The strength of the structure largely rests on these seemingly small details, and knowing them can give you an edge in both your studies and your career.