Join Early Retirement Today
Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Construction - Stud Spacing???
Old 07-30-2019, 01:54 PM   #1
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
Give me a forum ...
Midpack's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: NC
Posts: 21,204
Construction - Stud Spacing???

So we’re in a new (to us) house, and I go to hang tool racks on the garage. I assume the studs are on 16” centers, perfect for the rack system with 48” sections I bought.

The good news is the garage walls are unfinished drywall, so I can see exactly where the studs are. The bad news is the actual spacing is:

16”-18”-20”-18”-19”-15”-19”18”-24”-22”

I can work with it, but...

Fortunately I can assume all the studs are a perfect 16” on center in the house itself though.
__________________
No one agrees with other people's opinions; they merely agree with their own opinions -- expressed by somebody else. Sydney Tremayne
Retired Jun 2011 at age 57

Target AA: 50% equity funds / 45% bonds / 5% cash
Target WR: Approx 1.5% Approx 20% SI (secure income, SS only)
Midpack is offline   Reply With Quote
Join the #1 Early Retirement and Financial Independence Forum Today - It's Totally Free!

Are you planning to be financially independent as early as possible so you can live life on your own terms? Discuss successful investing strategies, asset allocation models, tax strategies and other related topics in our online forum community. Our members range from young folks just starting their journey to financial independence, military retirees and even multimillionaires. No matter where you fit in you'll find that Early-Retirement.org is a great community to join. Best of all it's totally FREE!

You are currently viewing our boards as a guest so you have limited access to our community. Please take the time to register and you will gain a lot of great new features including; the ability to participate in discussions, network with our members, see fewer ads, upload photographs, create a retirement blog, send private messages and so much, much more!

Old 07-30-2019, 01:57 PM   #2
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
Give me a forum ...
pb4uski's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: Sarasota, FL & Vermont
Posts: 36,266
That is wierd. I think it would be much harder to build a wall that way rather than just 16 on center.
__________________
If something cannot endure laughter.... it cannot endure.
Patience is the art of concealing your impatience.
Slow and steady wins the race.

Retired Jan 2012 at age 56
pb4uski is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-30-2019, 02:09 PM   #3
gone traveling
 
Join Date: Mar 2015
Posts: 3,508
Quote:
Originally Posted by Midpack View Post
So we’re in a new house, and I go to hang tool racks on the garage. I assume the studs are on 16” centers, perfect for the rack system with 48” sections I bought.

The good news is the garage walls are unfinished drywall, so I can see exactly where the studs are. The bad news is the actual spacing is:

16”-18”-20”-18”-19”-15”-19”18”-24”-22”

I can work with it, but...

Fortunately I can assume all the studs are a perfect 16” on center in the house itself though.
This is a new house? Or just new to you?

If the former, talk to the builder... now.
joeea is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-30-2019, 02:16 PM   #4
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
 
Join Date: Nov 2016
Location: Washington State
Posts: 2,350
My in-laws 100 year old house is built that way. The wall studs are fairly consistent at 16" on-center, not perfect, but close enough. However, the floor joists vary quite a bit from 16" to 18" or so. It's almost like they just eyeballed it instead of measuring. That made it very difficult to install insulation that is intended for 16" spacing. I didn't want to buy 24" insulation and cut it down, so I just cut lots of short sections and placed them sideways in the joist bays.

Of course, that old house still has the rough sawn lumber. Splinters galore!
mountainsoft is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-30-2019, 02:17 PM   #5
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
Give me a forum ...
RunningBum's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2007
Posts: 13,202
Welcome to North Carolina.
RunningBum is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-30-2019, 02:58 PM   #6
Moderator
braumeister's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2010
Location: Flyover country
Posts: 25,199
You just never know, do you?

We bought a house back in the 90s that was designed by an independent architect who built it himself. Half of it was 16" centers and half was 20" centers. All of the joists were 2x12s. It was a very distinctive and unusual design that DW absolutely fell in love with, so I had to deal with some "interesting" challenges from time to time.

We made out OK in the end though. Sold it for about 135% of asking price to a guy who lived 2,000 miles away and also fell in love with it just from the pictures he saw on the MLS website.
__________________
I thought growing old would take longer.
braumeister is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-30-2019, 03:06 PM   #7
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
Give me a forum ...
 
Join Date: Mar 2016
Posts: 8,968
My studs are all over the place too. Couldn't care less, that's what stud finders are for.
RobbieB is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-30-2019, 03:18 PM   #8
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
Give me a forum ...
 
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: Northern IL
Posts: 26,821
It must be my OCD tendencies, that would drive me nuts!

But the older I get, the less I muck around with that stuff, so maybe I'd just shrug it off. Seems to me it would be easier for the builders to keep it consistent, just use a jig to hold the stud in place while you nail it?

I've come to appreciate the "french cleat" approach for hanging stuff from a wall. As long as you can span two studs, the hanging object can go over it, and you can slide it side-to-side if the object is wide.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_cleat

-ERD50
ERD50 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-30-2019, 03:20 PM   #9
Recycles dryer sheets
 
Join Date: Mar 2018
Posts: 364
Last 2 houses the garage rafters were random, think they were 1 or 2 short and made up the difference
ransil is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-30-2019, 03:29 PM   #10
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
Give me a forum ...
 
Join Date: May 2005
Location: Lawn chair in Texas
Posts: 14,183
How do the workers hang sheetrock with that random spacing?
__________________
Have Funds, Will Retire

...not doing anything of true substance...
HFWR is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-30-2019, 03:39 PM   #11
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
Give me a forum ...
 
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: Northern IL
Posts: 26,821
Quote:
Originally Posted by HFWR View Post
How do the workers hang sheetrock with that random spacing?
Poorly?

-ERD50
ERD50 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-30-2019, 03:58 PM   #12
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
Give me a forum ...
Midpack's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: NC
Posts: 21,204
Quote:
Originally Posted by joeea View Post
This is a new house? Or just new to you?

If the former, talk to the builder... now.
New to us, built 3 years ago.

BTW. Since the OP, I’ve drilled for and hung 96” of racks, and the studs are indeed off as I thought. No big deal with tool racks, but I wonder how the drywall guys marked to drill on studs?
__________________
No one agrees with other people's opinions; they merely agree with their own opinions -- expressed by somebody else. Sydney Tremayne
Retired Jun 2011 at age 57

Target AA: 50% equity funds / 45% bonds / 5% cash
Target WR: Approx 1.5% Approx 20% SI (secure income, SS only)
Midpack is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-30-2019, 04:12 PM   #13
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
Give me a forum ...
street's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2016
Posts: 9,422
Are those measurements right in the middle of the wall moving horizontal? Not at top or bottom Right?

That is interesting someone would do that. I have built numerous homes and not sure why that would be done that way. Lol
street is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-30-2019, 04:42 PM   #14
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
Give me a forum ...
pb4uski's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: Sarasota, FL & Vermont
Posts: 36,266
Quote:
Originally Posted by Midpack View Post
New to us, built 3 years ago.

BTW. Since the OP, I’ve drilled for and hung 96” of racks, and the studs are indeed off as I thought. No big deal with tool racks, but I wonder how the drywall guys marked to drill on studs?
Whenever I've done drywall I mark the floor and ceiling where the studs are. I usually do the lower piece first, pin it to the studs with a few drywall screws and then mark the studs with a straight edge between the stud and the mark on the floor. Then do the upper piece and extend the line from the lower piece to the ceiling.
__________________
If something cannot endure laughter.... it cannot endure.
Patience is the art of concealing your impatience.
Slow and steady wins the race.

Retired Jan 2012 at age 56
pb4uski is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-30-2019, 05:05 PM   #15
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
GalaxyBoy's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2009
Location: The Beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains
Posts: 2,782
Yeah, I had that issue when I bought and hung a rack in an unfinished basement earlier this year. I cut a scrap 2x4 to span between two studs where I wanted to mount it.
GalaxyBoy is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-30-2019, 05:09 PM   #16
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
zinger1457's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2007
Posts: 3,222
Sounds like the contractor who built the house must have a cordial ($$$) relationship with the local building inspectors. There are a lot of reasons to use standard 16"/24" stud spacing besides that it's likely a building code requirement. Properly fit standard insulation batts/rolls, proper load bearing, drywall sheets and exterior sheathing should have the sheet edges on the center of a stud, .....
zinger1457 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-30-2019, 05:56 PM   #17
gone traveling
 
Join Date: Mar 2015
Posts: 3,508
Quote:
Originally Posted by Midpack View Post
New to us, built 3 years ago.
Yikes. It scares me to think about whatever other hidden wonders exist.

If this is in a development, you might want to talk with some neighbors about all that.
joeea is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-30-2019, 06:31 PM   #18
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
Give me a forum ...
pb4uski's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: Sarasota, FL & Vermont
Posts: 36,266
Quote:
Originally Posted by zinger1457 View Post
Sounds like the contractor who built the house must have a cordial ($$$) relationship with the local building inspectors. There are a lot of reasons to use standard 16"/24" stud spacing besides that it's likely a building code requirement. Properly fit standard insulation batts/rolls, proper load bearing, drywall sheets and exterior sheathing should have the sheet edges on the center of a stud, .....
Good point.... how did they do the exterior sheathing since none of the progressions in the OP equal 48" or 96"?
__________________
If something cannot endure laughter.... it cannot endure.
Patience is the art of concealing your impatience.
Slow and steady wins the race.

Retired Jan 2012 at age 56
pb4uski is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-30-2019, 06:43 PM   #19
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
Give me a forum ...
 
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: Northern IL
Posts: 26,821
Quote:
Originally Posted by pb4uski View Post
Good point.... how did they do the exterior sheathing since none of the progressions in the OP equal 48" or 96"?
Caulk. Lots of caulk!


Good point someone made earlier about insulation - if you have a wider than 16/24" spacing, there will be gaps.


OK, I never built a house, but I've framed some wall sections. It seems it would be easier to keep it standard, than to have the drywall and sheathing crew mad at you.

-ERD50
ERD50 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-30-2019, 08:02 PM   #20
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
Give me a forum ...
JoeWras's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2012
Posts: 11,701
Quote:
Originally Posted by RunningBum View Post
Welcome to North Carolina.
I was going to make the same quip.

But seriously, this is whacked. I've never seen that on a modern house in NC.

I have seen it on older houses. As a matter of fact, I was working on a late 1940s house recently (hurricane disaster recovery), and you could see the carpenters were running out of wood and started cheating on roof rafters! One side of the house was 16-16-16. Then it morphed to 17, 18 and a few 19s!

What a pain to put sheathing on that mess.

It was beautiful wood, though. Real 2x4, actual measurements, no nominal stuff here. Looked to be planed by a local mill down the river.
JoeWras is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply


Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)
 
Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are Off
Refbacks are Off


Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Double spacing between paragraphs in posts? New? ERD50 Forum Admin 108 04-21-2023 03:59 PM
Stud finding..Got any hints? Sue J Other topics 26 07-07-2017 11:35 PM
Spacing between sentences? RunningBum Forum Admin 78 10-24-2011 04:05 PM

» Quick Links

 
All times are GMT -6. The time now is 01:14 AM.
 
Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.8 Beta 1
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.