This tool visualizes the “Wing Effect”—how highway speeds create low pressure above your roof, generating massive lift forces that try to rip the roof deck off the walls. It demonstrates why simple “toe-nailing” (the standard for regular houses) is completely insufficient for a Tiny House on the highway, and calculates exactly how much force each rafter anchor needs to resist.
Roof Uplift Calculator
Don’t let your roof fly off on the highway.
1. Roof Config
Include eaves/overhangs!
Analysis Result
Why Toe-Nailing Fails
A roof acts exactly like an airplane wing. As air rushes over the curve/pitch, pressure drops, sucking the roof upwards. This “Uplift Force” pulls nails straight out. Toe-nails rely on friction; Metal Ties rely on the shear strength of the steel, which is vastly stronger.
In a Tiny House, you must mechanically connect: Roof -> Top Plate -> Stud -> Bottom Plate -> Trailer Frame. If any link in this chain is just “nailed,” that is where the house will come apart in a storm or on the highway.