20x30 1.5 story: wall framing question

[sharbin]

Hello All,

We started framing the walls, and as expected some questions popped out:

1- Should the small walls be squeezed between the long walls as in

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or could it be done with one side goes to the end and the other is butt against the intersecting wall as in:

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The reason I am asking this is because the 30' walls are longer by 1/2" and I thought that the only way to get around this is by doing it as in the second illustration Or buy 12' 2x6 and use 10' 1/2" from it (I am framing 10' section at a time).

2- The edge of one of the short walls is off by 1/2" to make it perfectly 90 angle with the intersecting long wall. Would that be a problem to leave it as is? If I adjust it, I will be having the flooring protruding 1/2" which would leave a bump when sheathing the walls.


3- As I mentioned earlier, I am building the walls in 10' sections. I am adding an extra stud at the edge of each side. When I raise the adjacent sections and attach them together by nailing the edge studs, could I sheath the sections without having a 3/4" of the sheathing of one section attached to the next? I am asking this because it would defeat the purpose of attaching the sheathing before raising the wall if I have to build scaffolds on the exterior to nail what's left from the sheathing.

4- When framing the long walls, sometimes it happens that the king stud of an opening would fall in the same location as the 16" spacing studs. Should I add an extra stud next to the king stud? or is it ok to have a stud to act as both?

5- I have 3 windows 6'x6' on one long wall spaced 32" from the edge of the wall to the king stud of the window at both ends of the wall, and 24" between windows, again from king stud to king stud. Should I double up the king studs and the trimmer studs of the windows? And is it ok to have only 32" on each side of the wall?

6- On the other long wall I have 3' wide door and 2x 4' windows. Do I need to double the king studs and/or trimmer studs?

Thanks a lot

Sharbin
 

[John Raabe]

OK, I'll go first here but I warn you, I am not a skilled framer.

1. I would use the 2nd diagram and rip a bit of 1/2" ply and nail it to the ends to make up the 1/2" and give solid nailing. You will lap the top plates over all of this.

2. Shim as above.

3. Unless the inspector says otherwise I would think you can assemble the presheathed panels and spike the adjacent studs together. This should transfer most of the shear strength of one panel to the other.

4. A king stud can do double duty.

5 & 6. You will have better racking resistance if you have a 48" sheathed panel at the corner. But whether or not you need it will depend on your local codes. For an overview of framing for rough openings see Wagner's House Framing p. 98. You do not need to double the king stud on a wide opening (6') but you may need a double trimmer. Let me see what I can find.

Ah, here is a good online tutorial and a chart for headers. They show a 2nd trimmer needed on spans over 5'.



PS - I did a google search on "when do I need double trimmer studs on window header"

[sharbin]

Thanks John for the reply.

1- I guess you meant to use the first diagram as the second diagram I will not have any shortage.
2- If I don't shim, would 1/2" be an issue?
5- thanks for the illustration.

Sharbin

[MarkAndDebbie]

It seems I lost my post somewhere (attachment folder full...) So here is the jist.

I just left the bottom sheet out that transitioned the sections. Then the missing sheet could tie the walls together.

Putting adhesive on horizontally was better, and it was easier to square the wall.

[John Raabe]

Sharbin:

Maybe I wasn't quite clear on your layout. You should get things to be square, plumb and level with the floor platform. You can use 1/2" plywood shims to do this. If the walls are bigger than the platform add a strip to the end of the floor joists. If the walls are shorter add it to the wall framing.

[sharbin]

Thanks MarkAndDebbie, but the problem is that I have 3 large and tall windows (6x6) so I would only have about 2 1/2 feet to tie the walls. But this does not answer the question whether nailing the ajacent studs as John suggested would be enough without the sheets transitioning to the next section of the wall.

[John Raabe]

When walls are sheathed with offset and overlapping panels it creates a wire and wood fiber diaphragm that provides a lot of low cost racking resistance. This is why it is the way most people do standard framing. As Mark&Debbie mention gluing these panels increases the resistance.

Individual sheathed panels compromise this (as do big tall openings) but, unless you are in hurricane wind or earthquake environments you may never experience forces that would need that extra resistance. And, it can be made up for by extra straps and metal connectors if needed. This is often part of the engineering package for a panelized prefab house and a local engineer can do the same for an owner-built house.

[sharbin]

Thank you for your input. So I decided to go with the below walls layout method. I was not sure if this can be done, but after seeing Larry Haun 's DVD, he did mention this alternative.
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Now I am in the process of framing the walls, but another question popped up:
1- When doing the 2x12 loft floor joists, for the ones that fall over the window, can I lay them directly on the window header (from the top of window header to the top plate I have 26")?
2- When nailing the 2x12 joists to the cripples above the window, would that be strong enough to help tieing the opposite walls together with these 2x12 20'?

Thanks

[John Raabe]

Yes, your joists should be bearing on the let-in ledger (loft floor details, Sht. 7). If needed the header can replace the ledger and you can nail to cripples rather than full height studs when you are over doors and windows. All this will be tied together with the structural sheathing.