Hurricane tie installation

[dockdoc]

Following up on previous post - builders didn’t install H2.5T hurricane clips so want to do it myself.

I put one on but realized I’m not sure if they’re allowed to go over the sheathing.
Can anyone verify? I couldn’t find much online. Don’t want to waste my time and have it fail inspection.

Here’s the one I installed.

 

[welder4956]

If they are screwed into the studs, they should function ok. The problem is that the inspector can't tell if there is a stud behind the sheathing. Is it the photo angle, or did you install that on the outside of the wall? All of mine are on the inside.

 

[dockdoc]

If they are screwed into the studs, they should function ok. The problem is that the inspector can't tell if there is a stud behind the sheathing. Is it the photo angle, or did you install that on the outside of the wall? All of mine are on the inside.

Well that's a great point, I don't know if this is going into a stud either. I tried to position it higher so it was going into the top plate but it doesn't fit under the roof sheathing, too long. Probably a lost cause / the wrong type of connector.

These are outside as noted - my research says that's OK, maybe even preferable. The way the framing is on the inside the rafter/top plate connection is not accessible. Blocked by the floor joists.

 

[dockdoc]

So I just looked at this more closely and I feel like an idiot... Because this is a 1.5 story garage, the rafters are not resting on the top plate of the first floor, they're resting on a rim board and ledger. This random drawing I found looks pretty similar to what I'm referencing. What I thought was the top plate was actually the ledger.

So can I just fasten the hurricane ties into the rim board?

 

[TRWham]

It's not a ledger- it's essentially a combination bottom/top plate for a 3" tall wall. We use H2.5As ties, which are ambidextrous, rather than H2.5Ts, which are handed, but for your application I would use H1s. Simpson says that you can nail through sheathing as long as you use 2.5" nails. As for nailing into the rim, if the rim let's go under uplift then you have a problem that hurricane ties cannot solve, but you are engaging less wood by nailing into the rim (only the 1.5" thickness of the lumber is available). If you want a belt and suspenders approach to hold the rim down, then add some flat strap all the way from the top down across the rim to the studs below. That should be required on the gable ends anyway, but in that case you go from the stud above across the rim to the stud below.

 

[dockdoc]

It's not a ledger- it's essentially a combination bottom/top plate for a 3" tall wall. We use H2.5As ties, which are ambidextrous, rather than H2.5Ts, which are handed, but for your application I would use H1s. Simpson says that you can nail through sheathing as long as you use 2.5" nails. As for nailing into the rim, if the rim let's go under uplift then you have a problem that hurricane ties cannot solve, but you are engaging less wood by nailing into the rim (only the 1.5" thickness of the lumber is available). If you want a belt and suspenders approach to hold the rim down, then add some flat strap all the way from the top down across the rim to the studs below. That should be required on the gable ends anyway, but in that case you go from the stud above across the rim to the stud below.

Great explanation thanks. I guess I don’t see much point in adding any ties then since the rafter and rim could just pull loose from the top plate.

 

[TRWham]

I would encourage you to install the clips. My point about the rim was that it is highly unlikely that connection would fail, but if it did it would be under extraordinary conditions. Tying to the rim provides benefit, especially if the rim is tied to everything else. There is always the possibility of failure somewhere along the chain.

 

[dockdoc]

Sounds good. I can’t tell what the rim is made of because there’s sheathing on it. That’s usually 2x material right?

 

[TRWham]

Yes, should be the same as the joists. I should add that the sheathing itself serves to tie the framing together. It truly is structural both for shear and tension.

 

[dockdoc]

Yeah the joists are the I beam type though

 

[TRWham]

Just make sure you are nailing into something solid. If the nails will end up in the OSB web, you can add blocking behind to catch the nails.