Structural framing question: tolerances between header & jack studs

[willymakeit]

Best post of the thread.

It's been years since I framed anything, so I hand nailed a lot of it. Last job I directed the framers were awful and I spent a good deal of time fixing it. I think a lot of the problem is using nail guns. Even if the cuts are good, the guys don't pack the frame together very well when assembling.

So Kledge is right, add stuff in when it's all racked and plumbed. And use a big chop or radial saw for blocks, cripples and jacks for precise cuts.

In my day you'd see something like this on the job that would cut 4x headers in one pass.

Now your dating yourself. Thats what I was using on the west coast 35 yrs ago. Times and techniques have changed, not always for the better. At that time we werent allowed to use nailers much.

 

[acer66]

Our house had no jacks and no headers at any opening I have looked at so far, was build in 1947.

 

[stafford]

For us the problem was this. I'd cut all the header material and we'd nail the headers together. A 2x10 is supposed to be 9-1/4, and the two by four is and inch and a half. so you cut ten and three quarters off two studs for every header. nail them to another stud and nail them onto the header and you're ready to go. The trouble is not every two by ten is nine and a quarter and you guys that really do this kind of work know that, just like a all baseboard and crown is not the same width. just have to work with what you''ve got.

 

[GarageEnvy]

I worked as a framer for a brief period of time and I'm not an engineer. Others that have posted have much more experience in both areas. That being said, gaps on jack studs never would have been acceptable to my boss. We stood walls with headers in place but the idea of letting things shrink and settle does make sense to me. Of course, I was building mid-level tract homes so we had 3 days to frame the house. We weren't waiting for anything.

I don't see it as being a major crisis structurally. It's just symptomatic of sloppy work. I guess at some point the jack stud is acting as a safety net rather than a support member. As someone else mentioned though, the guy with the nail gun probably shot a full clip through the king into the end of the header.

 

[K'ledgeBldr]

... so you cut ten and three quarters off two studs for every header.

See, here's a perfect example-
Not using the correct lumber. Studs are for walls. #3 lineal is for jacks. That's a waste of money/materials.

 

[Zeke]

See, here's a perfect example-
Not using the correct lumber. Studs are for walls. #3 lineal is for jacks. That's a waste of money/materials.

Plus, the bottom of the header was 83" off the deck if he was using 92 1/4 studs as we like to do out west. That's plenty generous.

But you're right, that's not very good yield from the lumber stack. Not very many places for a 10 3/4 cut off. Cripples maybe over non bearing 4 x 4 headers. Drywall nailers and towel bar backing (ganged).

 

[Steves32]

I must have got lucky. I used hired framing crew, they used an air compressor & framing nailers, all walls were built flat on the ground & then stood up w/ headers in place. I had no gaps anywhere. Every cut was tight.

A little over a year since drywall was installed & taped- not 1 crack.

My lumber was from a lumber yard & pretty dry as lumber goes. The stuff at Home Depot feels like it was soaking in the bottom of a swimming pool in comparison.

 

[Toolfool]

You did get lucky. No need for "put more nails in it" to make up for the gaps and crooked cuts. I want to smack a guy when he justifies sloppy framing by saying " Look how many nails are in there, it's not going anywhere."
My old partner has been a framer since high school (now 53). He has a reputation of being the "finish framer". I can go into one of his houses to install cabinets and know that walls are plumb and square, and floors are level. After I had framed my shop walls (40 x 90) he came to help me set trusses. I got yelled at because my building was 3/16" out of square !! 40' x 90' !!!

 

[BarnFab]

I think after reading through this thread the real issue is that people need to start using the metric system so they can get their cut length correct and get rid of this imperial slop !!!

 

[acer66]

While I like the metric system, I`ll doubt that if you can not read an imperial tape measure properly a metric one will help.

 

[Zeke]

Those guys are too clean! You ought to see my raggety *** old bags.