16" O.c.

georgia dawg

16"o.c. was developed because it was the maximum span to support lathe for plaster in the middle ages. It has nothing to do with modern dimensional lumber load bearing except for division of widths, but is still the "de facto" standard. Correct me if I'm wrong.

2x6 at 24" is just as strong and uses the same board feet which means that, wall to wall, it should cost about the same to frame.

Opinions?

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thom

Dawg, you are correct that the strengths, carrying a vertical load, are the same. Not all loads are vertical. 24" centers will add flex to your sheetrock and exterior finishes. You still need 16" centers for tile backer. 16" centers gives you a little more to screw cabinets to.

Mixing the centers, 16" and 24", seems to give the framers fits (I tried it for a while). You save a little in material. I figure, in the grand scheme of things, it's not worth the hassle.

georgia dawg

I think the idea fo 24oc for exterior for more insulation and 16oc for interior trim would be nice. Your right, though, some of my framers can't count past 16 anyways.

__________________
"How much per sq.ft? Well.. gimme $1K and I can build a shed. Gimme $1M and I can build the same size shed with gold plating and encrusted diamonds."

KentWhitten

I'd say that you COULD do 2' centers, if you really wanted to. I actually framed a house both out and in were 24". Usually, it was just the exterior. made for nice walking through the walls instead of around them.

I would say the sponginess of the sheetrock would be a concern unless you do 5/8" or the newer stiffer 1/2" maybe.

Dunno, I guess it's just a personal preference.

I wouldn't think twice on a starter home, but on a higher end home, no way would I even think about it. The HO would surely have a friend that would say something.

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Teetorbilt

dawg, I can argue this on a number of levels.

We can start with when a 2X4 was actually that and was old growth lumber. Much stronger than the 3-1/2 X 1-1/2 farmed propeller blanks that we get today.

Here, 16 or even 12" OC became the norm due to lessons learned from hurricanes long before we had codes. It was called survival back then.

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hrscammisa

16 " centers are the only way to get your seismic conection here in Calif for your ply.and back then they used a lot of 1x12 siding