Simpson Strong Walls

thirdgencar

I'd like to get some feedback on these shear panels. The job I'm on now used several of them, and this is the first time I've seen them. They seem to work well, but it seems to me that all of the screws used in the HD's will do nothing more than split the end of the 4x4's they are attached to. I've often wondered how important some of the simpson hardware actually is, after tearing into a house that is pushing 100yrs old, still standing fine, and they never had any metal hardware at all.

Spectatorz

I think these Strong Walls are Great !!!

If anybody were interested in the Free Seminars at Simpson, You Might be convinced as well.
I have attended the training on Wood Connectors and Concrete Anchor Systems as well.
Very informative, Plus you get fed Catered Breakfast and Lunch Too !!

http://strongtie.com/workshops/22/22schedule.asp?Site=

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thirdgencar

thats cool man, these things are just new to me. not too much quake activity where i've been. I'd imagine they'd give equally good structure for snow and wind loads?

nadonailer

Everything is Simpson nowadays so there's wood strongwalls, steel strongwalls on even a small job. I suppose they're good at what they do, but I also wonder how all these 100 year old homes made it so far so well with just 'normal' construction

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RobertCDF

Those 100 year old homes were built by TRUE carpenters... Not "hacks" like us. (Not that we are real hacks... but compared to them we are) These people cared about what they built. Not just getting thier next paycheck to go and buy beer and weed.

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reveivl

I don't know about that, Robert. I've torn into some older homes and been amazed at how shoddy the construction sometimes is. People also say that "back then" people built with better wood, well maybe, but certainly not all the time. Sure, they used full dimension wood, but not out of choice, that's just what was available. Plus they often built as lightly as they could, spanning crazy distances with 2x4 & 6. I do a fair bit of repairing these old buildings that are sagging because they were poorly designed or built.

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RobertCDF

True True... I guess I should have said NOT in all cases... But the ones that are still standing well were built by true craftsmen.

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thirdgencar

This is very true. The chances of actually finding a real "craftsman" in any of the trades are slim to none.

IHI

I believe there are plenty of "true crafastman" in all regions, but trying to pair up a customer that can afford to pay for that amount of quality and them getting lined up with the guy that can provide that type of quality above and beyond what is considered "the norm" is very much like aligning the stars so to speak. 90% of customers have what I call the wal-mart mentality where the want the very cheapest route to get what they're after....my recent job bidding is a perfect example. In the past 8 jobs I gave what was a fair price-we're not getting rich by any means, but giving the customer an honest bid for quality work, and in the past 8 I landed none because we were too high in our price. So here I thought, great, I'll land this job no problem, turned around and smacked me in the face with homies thinking we're bidding too much??

OR, like this past job I did land, we talked everything over for all the tiny details or converting 1/2 their garge into a new living space with a full bathroom-lots involved without going into deep detail. When I asked for a budget, they told me they'd like to keep it under $8K All that did was just validate the point of consumers not having a clue what things actually cost in both materials and labor. When I gave them the work up sheet with pricing we were well above the budget they had in mind, but after my education when first hearing the budget, it must of made sense to them since they called and asked if they could get it scheduled.

I dont care what anybody says, making a project that goes above and beyond standard requires more time and quality materials, those cost extra and most folks wont go that far. That statement might leave alot of loop holes for one to critize me and a great opportunity for the high horse riding internet wizards to stick their bird chest out and say we dont do that, but the level headed folks know exactly where I'm coming from....you do the best you can with what you have to work with.

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thirdgencar

Wurd up.

JustaFramer

I have used strong walls on one job. I don't know why they couldn't be fabbed in the feild. However they are inspected before they are shipped. I have never had a problem with SDS screws splitting a 4x because the screw is fluted. I prefer to install sds screw over the bolt through method. A bag of screw and air ratchet saves a butt load of time.