Wall sheathing and blocking

[Pa_Kettle]

My walls are going to be 8' tall on the interior.  Now, I think I want to run the exterior sheathing down to the bottom of the rim joist and up to the ends of the rafters (gable roof), to tie everything to gether.  So 8' exterior sheathing won't be tall enough.

I've read that you shouldn't run a small strip of sheathing near the top or bottom of the wall, so my plan is to run a full sheet (horizontal) from the bottom of the rim joist and another horizontal piece from the roof rafters down.  This will leave a 10+" gap near the middle of the wall.  I'm guessing I will have to run two peices of horizontal blocking at the seams this strip creates.

Am I on track here and does this make sense?  Is there a better way to do it?

Thanks,
PK

[peg_688]

 You can get 9' OSB around here. Then you could soldier your sheets (run the 9' length vertical   No blocking required  

If your using CDX plywood I'd soldier the sheets running from sill plate up , which means if your sheathing the walls laying down then will stand them once sheeted you'll have plywood sticking out/ down that would equal the height of your sub floor thickness, rim joist height and PT sill plate thickness,  less 1/2" . So when you stand up your walls you should lap into 1" of the sill plate , The 1/2" is a allowance factor so you don't end up sticking below the bottom of the sill plate.

 You will have one row of blocking up high and yes you'll have a 10" or so piece of plywood to fill in at the top , no big deal IMO . I'm not sure where you read that about no strips up high.

 My reasoning at the lower part of the wall to lap the sheathing down to the sill plate prevents a hinge point , up high the sheathing is on studs, not a problem / hinge point. justa joint that need blocking to meet code .  

 I'd use 2x4 blocking by the way , on the flat , so your nailing into the 3 1/2 " edge of the 2x4 , the insulation can just be cut / notched around the blocking so you'll still have some insulation without a cut / joint / hole all the way thru it  .

 The stud / block need to be flat( so your nailing into the 3 1/2 " edge / side of the 2x4) or some :-/ "smart " :-/ inspector will call you on the 3" nomal thickness rule    

Hopefully the sheets will reach up to any / all window and door headers on that wall which will give you nailing at / to those headers , you'll only need to block the stud bays  that remain. To provide for the "Must be nailed at all edges"    nailed code.  

 Hope that all makes sence to ya , might be TMI (To Much Info) .   Read it a few times , draw a lil scetch with the details , you 'll see what I mean I think .  G/L , PEG    

[bil2054]

Pa.k, I don't know what you were planning to get for sheathing, but most are available in  9' and 10' .......
Ah, I see PEG beat me to the punch this time! [smiley=thumbsup.gif]

'Nuff said!

[Pa_Kettle]

Ok, thank you both.  I'll do some closer looking around today at sheathing.  I think what I read about strips at the top or bottom, may only have been talking about the bottom.

Off the top of my head I think 9' will do me really well.  I've got approx. 98" from the bottom of the subfloor to top of the plates.  The rim joists are another 5.5". So total 98 + (5.5 - 1/2) = 103, which gives me 5 inches to go up (and tie into) the ends of the rafters.

Thanks again,
PK

[peg_688]

  (and tie into) the ends of the rafters.

 Your welcome  

  I'm not following the tie into the rafter ends?

  Generally the rafter tails stick out to become your eave line / soffit . I'm not sure what plan your using so maybe you don't have eaves/ overhangs / soffits.

You might want to rethink that tie into part [highlight]if[/highlight] you have overhangs  

 G/L PEG

[Pa_Kettle]

(and tie into) the ends of the rafters.

Your welcome  
  I'm not following the tie into the rafter ends?
  Generally the rafter tails stick out to become your eave line / soffit . I'm not sure what plan your using so maybe you don't have eaves/ overhangs / soffits.
You might want to rethink that tie into part [highlight]if[/highlight] you have overhangs  
 G/L PEG

Details, details...
You're right, unless I do clipped rafters, the sheathing will end at the top plates.  Unless I slot it between the rafters and tie it into the loft joists.  To be honest I haven't worked those details out yet, so I better stop before I sound like a complete loon.

My concern was to be able to tie the as much of the wall together as possible.

Onward and upward!  (I hope)

PK

[glenn-k]

I used the clipped rafter detail on my RV garage then changed pitch for the porch around it.  In that case you could tie them together - Smaller tails could also be attached to the sides of the joists.  I don't know if the cost savings is worth the trouble though.

I have seen some houses around using clipped rafters and gutters.