Framing Questions

[DigitalFusion]

Hey all,

I am in the middle of doing a "dry" build of my garage in Google Sketchup. I have a few framing questions since none of my framing/carpenter buddies are answering their phones at the moment and its been 15+ years since I did any framing work (with my dad when I was 13)...

When doing a long wall in multiple sections, do you need to "double" the studs to nail them together at each section end or do u keep everything at 16 O.C.?

How many king/jackstuds are you supposed to use when doing longer headers for things like the overhead doors?

 

[KMR Construction]

2 jack studs on each side of the garage doors. You can either frame the wall in one section and stand it up or double the studs where they join. The building inspector will probably make you span this area with the plywood to give it strength

 

[BooUrns!]

It depends on the building code for your region/state. When applying the good/better/best gauge upon your project, two trimmer/jackstuds is better/best but it raises other issues. If you are buying engineered beams, they are sold in 2' increments, if you need a 16'-9" beam over your 16' opening, you're going to waste 15" of that expensive material on each ply (many garage lumber packages supply a beam that only allows for one trimmer stud). Decide if quality or cost is your priority and then consult the local codes to see where your penny pinching will cross the line of acceptability.

 

[FunfDreisig]

Interesting question.

Although I designed my own garage, I had our architect (for the main house) review my G-Sketchup model with full framing details. We went through all of the walls in significant detail (almost stud by stud). The design includes 4 large door openings which I'll be spanning with LVLs and will be enclosed by sliding barn doors (1- 8', 2- 12' and 1-24' opening) hung from the LVLs. The first suggestion he made was to remove the double jack studs that I had modeled in each of the large openings (even the 24' span).

FWIW our architect knew that I was not overly concerned about the lumber or labor cost. We talked about how a handful of jack studs wouldn't really show up in the overall cost of the finished garage; and since I'm building it myself labor cost is a non-issue. He simply said that the double jack studs were not needed.

Funf Dreisig

 

[DigitalFusion]

one of my carpenter buddys called me back, he said I could get away with 1 jack (trim board as he called them) but two is better. I started laying it out and realize the problem is as BooUrns suggested, the headers are 11' for my 10' opening, so I dont under stand what to do with them. Do I cut them down or do I place 4 jacks under each end? I would assume I would cut them down, but am unsure how to deal with this microlam?

also, if I have a 9'x4' picture window going in... how high should the bottom of the window be? I am sure there is some standard but since I live in a split level house, I cant really check!

 

[Kevin54]

When doing a long wall in multiple sections, do you need to "double" the studs to nail them together at each section end or do u keep everything at 16 O.C.?

I double the studs at the joint, but maintain the 16" which is a necessity for the sheeting boards. Your top plates will stagger over the two studs. The bottom plate can either end up at the end where the two go together or run down to the next stud or beyond. But when you layout the wall, do not have the two studs and the end of the OSB or whatever you use end up on the same joint. You want the joint to more or less fall in the middle of the OSB. That is unless you are building tall enough to where you run your OSB horizontally, then you want to stagger OSB the same as you do drywall.

 

[Ironcrow]

I wouldn't cut the beam shorter, but rather let it extend on both sides of the opening. One king and jack stud, and a short 'wall' piece with a sill and top plate (and at least a stud at each end, depending on the length of the wall). Then the number of jack studs becomes moot as I effectively have at least three.

 

[dipper]

I remember asking a similar question when framing my garage; and also couldn't get an immediate response from the inspector. My header for my 16' wide door is made up of 2x12's and 1/2" plywood glued and nailed. I had enough room for 5 studs on each side for support and figured it should be enough. Well it turns out that it was and pretty much overkill; but it's better than not enough.
If you don't want to cut the beam, at least put 3 studs on each side to support it.

 

[Torque1st]

I feel using a single jack stud on each side is OK around a normal man door or window. For larger spans I figure out how many studs would be there in a normal wall, then divide by 3 and round up if a fraction and use that on both sides. Nothing special about the formula, it just works for the stuff I do. I tend to build a little more conservatively tho since I have seen heavy loads crush a sill plate etc before and cause a sag, cracking, etc.

Say your opening would normally have 10 studs.
Divide by 3 = 3.333
Round up =4
Therefore use 4 jack studs on each side.

Or your opening has 12 studs.
Divide by 3 = 4
Therefore use 4 jack studs on each side.

Or your opening has 6 studs.
Divide by 3 = 2
Therefore use 2 jack studs on each side.

You get the picture...

BTW- I often add a second king stud on the latch side of a door for extra slam vibration resistance.