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My uncle's 2x4 corner brace advice cost me a weekend but saved the roof
Last spring I was framing a 10x12 lean-to off the back of my garage. My uncle Bob came by, looked at my corner bracing and said "you're gonna regret skipping those diagonal cuts." I thought he was being old school, you know, the way older guys think everything needs extra nails. So I ignored him and put up the framing with just the straight studs and top plate. Fast forward to the first windy day in May, I heard creaking from that wall every time a gust hit. Went out there and the whole frame was racking, actually twisted maybe 2 inches out of square. Had to take half the sheathing off and add diagonal braces on all four corners. Took me about 6 hours total to fix what would've taken 40 minutes the first time. Has anyone else fought with a relative over framing basics and found out later they were dead right? Now I trust Bob on anything structural but I still think his paint advice is garbage.
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ryan_shah3827d ago
That racking you describe is no joke, once a wall goes out of square it wants to keep going and it never really comes back true. The part that gets me is how fast it happens too. One windy day and 2 inches gone, that's all it takes. Bob was right about the diagonals doing the real work because a plain stud wall has zero resistance to that sideways push until the sheathing goes on, and even then it's fighting a losing battle. Cutting those 45s takes like 10 extra minutes per corner and most guys skip it cause the wall feels solid when you push on it by hand. You don't feel the difference until the wind loads it up. Glad you caught it before the roof went with it.
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