06/14/2026
I’m currently having a low five-figure workshop built, and the rafters have just been installed. I’ve noticed that a large number of the birdsmouth cuts are not fully seated on the top plate. Instead, many of them are only bearing on the inside (exterior wall face) corner of the cut, and a few are even essentially “floating,” with no real contact on the plate and are just being held down by nails.
The builder believes this is acceptable, especially since hurricane ties are installed on the rafters, but I’m not fully convinced this is proper load transfer or good practice.
I’m trying to figure out the best way to correct or improve this situation. Shimming doesn’t seem practical with the existing nails in place, and I’d really prefer to avoid tearing everything out and rebuilding if possible.
Is there any viable structural solution—such as high-strength epoxy, resin, or another compressive filler—that could safely take up the gap and restore proper bearing, or is this strictly a case where mechanical rework is the only correct fix?
