Little House board spacing

Started by Pa_Kettle, June 07, 2006, 03:35:58 PM

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Pa_Kettle

June 07, 2006, 03:35:58 PM Last Edit: June 07, 2006, 03:38:20 PM by Pa_Kettle
Two questions.

The plans for the 14x24 cabin call out 16" oc for the joists.  I believe the wall studs are the same.  If I'm doing my math and CAD correctly, when you get to the end of your floor (or wall), the last joist "spacing" won't be a full 14.5 (or 16 oc).  Am I correct?  Is there any thing I should be aware of in terms of where to put this smaller gap?  In other words, should I just pick one end of the structure, place my joists and let the second-to-the-last joist fall however close to the last (outside) joist it may?

The floor of the 14x24 is... 14 feet wide.  This means I have to cut 3" off each of the 19 floor joists due to the thickness of the rim joists, correct?  Is this dimension held to exactly 14' for any specific reason?  For instance, the loft joists will end up needing to be 14' 3" if I build the floor platform using uncut 14' joists.

I'm not going to change anything from what the plans specify, I'm just trying to educate myself a bit here.  :)

Thanks for all the help so far.  The beams (and maybe the joists) go in this weekend.

PK

Amanda_931

#1
June 07, 2006, 04:15:24 PM
at a guess, the floor in the loft is generally subject to less load.

(if you're putting the grand piano up there, you might want to beef it up)

bartholomew

#2
June 08, 2006, 12:54:43 AM
Split the gap between both ends, i.e. both end bays will be 3/4" narrower. Think in terms of your sheathing and making sure there is a stud at 4' intervals to support the edges. Usually you would put an extra stud or blocking at the corners to support the drywall edge and exterior corner boards so the end bays end up being several inches narrower.

For the width question, it's just cheaper to trim off the joists than to buy another sheet of ply and rip 3" strips to fill that extra gap. If you were building on a continuous concrete foundation and wanted to rent forms or contract out the work, you'd probably find that those extra 3 inches would be relatively expensive because reusable forms come in 24" increments. I don't think the loft joists are an issue. If they were intended to rest on a let-in ledger then you could always use hangers instead but it might be cheaper to just cut down 16 footers. So it really comes down to deciding what you're going to cut and trying to minimize waste.

glenn kangiser

#3
June 08, 2006, 01:16:47 AM
If you hook your tape on the start of the board then place joists on 16 inch centers the difference is made up as you start the first board even with the end then the rest on centers.

Think that way in drawing too.
"Always work from the general to the specific." J. Raabe

Glenn's Underground Cabin  http://countryplans.com/smf/index.php?topic=151.0

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Pa_Kettle

#4
June 08, 2006, 01:32:00 PM
QuoteSplit the gap between both ends, i.e. both end bays will be 3/4" narrower. Think in terms of your sheathing and making sure there is a stud at 4' intervals to support the edges. Usually you would put an extra stud or blocking at the corners to support the drywall edge and exterior corner boards so the end bays end up being several inches narrower.
This makes perfect sense.  I'm glad I asked, because I planned to just leave the smaller gap on one end.  That would have made sheathing a pain. :o  I need to keep this point in mind for the rest of the cabin too.

QuoteFor the width question, it's just cheaper to trim off the joists than to buy another sheet of ply and rip 3" strips to fill that extra gap. If you were building on a continuous concrete foundation and wanted to rent forms or contract out the work, you'd probably find that those extra 3 inches would be relatively expensive because reusable forms come in 24" increments. I don't think the loft joists are an issue. If they were intended to rest on a let-in ledger then you could always use hangers instead but it might be cheaper to just cut down 16 footers. So it really comes down to deciding what you're going to cut and trying to minimize waste.
The dimension in question is the 14 foot one, not the 24 foot one.  I'd have to trim the floor sheathing for the 14 either way (14' or 14' 3").  Unless they make  2x8 T&G.  I'm just now thinking, if I run the T&G the right way, I might be able to use the 2' cut off one run, on the other.  Hmmmm.  That would save me one whole sheet of floor sheathing.  I'll have to take a closer look at the floor sheathing steps...


QuoteIf you hook your tape on the start of the board then place joists on 16 inch centers the difference is made up as you start the first board even with the end then the rest on centers.

Think that way in drawing too.
Good tip.

Looks like I'm going to owe a lot of people here a cold beer...   :)

PK
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