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Journal, Royal Architectural Institute of Canada, 30, 8, pp. 1-5, 1953-08-01
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Stud spacing in Canadian frame houses
Rutherford, D. H.
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NATIONAL
RESEARCH
COUNCIL
CANADA
STUD
SPACING
IN CANADIAN
FRAME
HOUSES
by
D. H. RUIHERFORD
A N A L Y Z E D
REPRINT FROM
JOURNAL, ROYAL ARCHITECTURAL INSTITUTE OF CANADA, VOL. 30, NO. 8, AUGUST 1953.
TECHNICAL REPORT NO. I4
O F T H E
DIVISION OF BUILDING
RESEARCH
OTTAWA
DBR
39
NRC 3073
Stad, Spaeing
in Canad,ian
Frante
Eoases
IN CeNelreN Fnalrn Burr-orNc practice it has become standard procedure to erect the commonly used 2- by 4-inch wall studding at a regular spacing of 16 4-inches centre-to-centre. This spacing is now required by most building codes. In keeping with this procedure present day manu-facturers of building products, such as thermal insulation and wall sheathing, have designed theii products for ap-plication to studding at this standard spacing. With such an arrangement, it is to be expected theoretically that optimum use, both from economical and functional stand-points, is being obtained from all materials. In actual prac-tice, however, it often happens that although a l6-inch centre-to-centre spacing is intended, factors at the build-ing site make it advantageous or simpler to change some of the individual spacings. With some factory-made build-ing materials divergences of spacbuild-ing are not very critical. With others, however, and particularly with some of the patented types of thermal insulation, the spacing of the studdings is quite critical if the insulation is to perform efficiently its intended purpose.
With these ideas in mind, the Division of Building Re-search of the National ReRe-search Council decided to con-duct an investigation of some houses which were in the process of construction in order to see exactly what per-centage of the wall area in typical present-day houses had studding at l6-inch centres, or at least at such spacing that the economical and practical use of factory-made building materials was not hindered. It was thought that if it were determined that studdings were often misplaced during erection, and if the reasons for the misplacement could be found, some solution might become evident which would lead to the achievement of more uniform spacing. This could result in a reduction of material wast-ed and in better performance from the materials uswast-ed. Extent of Sumsey
The survey was begun in the fall of 1950 on a group of houses then under construction in and around the City of Ottawa. During the following winter the information which had been gained from 13 selected houses was studied. The results were of such a nature as to indicate that a more extensive survey was required before any definite conclusions could be drawn. Throughout the 195I building season, therefore, further houses were investi-gated until information was available on a total of 77 houses in 9 Canadian cities. The centres at which houses
D. H. Rutherford
were studied included Vancouver, Saskatoon, Winnipeg, Port Arthur, Fort William, Ottawa, Montreal, Moncton, and Halifax.
Method Suraey
At all times care was taken to obtain as closely as possible a random sampling of houses in each city. Houses were chosen by type-single, one-and-one-half or two storey. Whenever possible the houses were the products of different builders. In this way it was hoped that a truly representative sampling of modern Canadian housing, as constructed, could be obtained.
The houses chosen were visited during that period of their construction when all studding for exterior walls was in place, doors and windows had been framed, but the walls had not been insulated nor sheathed on the in-side. It was necessary that the studding be open to full view if complete information on its placing was to be obtained.
It was general procedure in each house to begin at any one corner of the house and to measure. all around the house perimeter, the actual spacing and height of all studding both downstairs, and on the second floor if present. In all cases it was noted whether the studdings ran the full height of the storey wall, occurred above door-ways, or occurred above or below windows. Thus the areas reported do not include the area occupied by window and door openings.
With this information it was possible, by simple cal-culation and arrangement, to group the area of the wall of any house according to the spacing of its wall studding. For example a typical house might have 500 sq. ft. of wall area with studding spaced at 16-inch centres, 200 sq. ft. with studding at 15 %-inch centres and so on.
In order that a comparison between houses could be made more easily, the areas occurring at each }i-inch in-crement of spacing were reduced to percentages of the total wall area of the house.
Upon completion of the investigation in any one city or location, a summary of the information gained there was compiled in a manher similar to that used for individual houses. This made it possible to see what percentage of wall area of the houses measured in that city occurred with any speciffc spacing of studding. The data covering the en-tie77 houses were summarized in the same manner.
Results and Discussion
In any survey of houses, built in different regions, to difierent foor and framing plans, and by different builders, a certain amount of variation in data is to be expected. So it was in this survey. The percentage of wall area having studding at exactly 16-inch centres varied from a low of 18.8 per cent in one house to a high of 67.3 per cent in an-other. These, however, were the extremes and as the houses were summarized city by city a more uniform per-centage was obtained. This is borne out when the sum-maries for the entire survey and for each city are studied (Figs. I and 2). Over the nine centres visited, the oc-currence of studding at exactly 16-inch centres varied only from 24.2 per cent in the Moncton area to 35.3 per cent in the Montreal area. The average occurrence for all cities visited was 30.8 per cent.
Although 16-inch spacing of studding is generally the aim of the builder and does produce desirable conditions for installation and performance of the materials applied to frame walls, a certain divergence from the 16-inch spacing can be tolerated without giving rise to too serious consequences. For this reason, a further and possibly more useful grouping of information is presented in Table l. Here the occurrence of studding has been placed into three groups - that less than lSX inches, that between l5l{ andLGk inches inclusive and that greater than 16)6 inches. It was considered that with studding spaced between 1511 inches and L61A inches most building materials could be used without seriously hindering their performance or un-duly adding to wastage.
Once again the average percentages of spacing occur-ring within the "ideal" limits remained quite uniform across Canada. Ottawa showed the lowest percentage at 61.0 per cent while Winnipeg was high with 73.1 per cent. (On this basis Moncton now had a slightly higher average than Montreal.) The fact, however, that the summary for all the houses visited showed that nearlv 34 oer cent of all the exterior wall area in these typical moderir houses to be
unsuited to the efficient application of factory-made build-ing materials indicated that a very real problem does exist.
Because the foregoing data do not show in what part of a house wall the poorly spaced studdings occur, Fig. 3 is presented. It presents the data for one typical house and shows what percentage of wall area beneath windows, above doors and having full storey height studding occur in the three groups previously mentioned.
It is at once evident that it is not the small wall areas, above doors and beneath windows, which contribute most to the total of poorly spaced studding, but rather the wall areas having studdings running full storey height. Several reasons can be suggested in explanation.
First, there is the common use of double studding around window and door frames and at corners of build-ings. If the studding has been tentatively spaced along a wall at 16-inch centres and subsequently is cut for the in-clusion of window and door frames, a number of stud spaces less than 16 inches wide are almost certain to occur. If a double studding is required to support a window sill or lintel and it is placed adjacent to an existing studding, what was intended to be a 16-inch spacing becomes less than 16 inches by the width of one stud.
Secondly, there is the use of window and door frames which are not in width a dimension suitable for use in walls having studs spaced at 16-inch centres. In this case it is obvious that when such frames are included in a wall with studdings at 16-inch centres, some adjustment in spacing must be made either at one side or the other of the window or door, which will again result in off-size spacings.
Thirdly, iunctions of interior partitions with exterior walls cause problems in stud spacing. It often happens that, if the framing for the house is not properly laid out in advance, a partition is found to be necessary in such a location that it butts into the exterior wall between two existing studs. Thus a further stud must be added and a potential l6-inch spacing is reduced into two spacings of
E E F o o z u
(,
e u GF I G U R E
I
G R A P H S H O W I N G 5 E X P R E S S E D A S A P E R C E N T A G E O F T O T A L W A L L A R E A . D A T A F R O M S U R V E Y O F 7 7 H O U S E S I N 9 C A N A D I A N C I T I E S . T O T A L W A L L A R E A M E A S U R E D 6 5 , 1 5 I S Q . F T . C - C S P A C I N G O F S T U D D I N G . I N C H E STABTE
I
SUMMARY
OF STUD
SPACING
DATA FROM
A SURVEY
OF 77 HOUSES
IN 9 CANADIAN
CITIES
House No. Location Tape
PERCENTACE OF TOTALWALL AREA, SPACING IN INCHES
'Less
than Greater than Totsl
151A" 751ito 761i" 761i' WalI Area
1 2 t) 5 6 .7 8 I 1 0 t 1 1 2 l 3 I 4 I D 1 6 t 7 I 8 l9 20 2 l 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 o l 32 D O 34 35 36 o l 38 39 40 4 T 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 5 I 52 53 54 J D 56 D I 58 5v 60 6l 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 7 L 72 I r ) 74 I D 76 n1 Ottawa, Ont. Ottawa, Ont. Ottawa, Ont. Ottawa, Ont. Ottawa, Ont. Ottawa, Ont. Ottawa, Ont. Ottawa, Ont. Ottawa, Ont. Ottawa, Ont. Ottawa, Ont. Ottawa, Ont. Ottawa, Ont. Fort William, Ont. Fort William, Ont. Port Arthur, Ont. Port Arthur, Ont. Fort William, Ont. Fort William, Ont. Fort William, Ont. Winnipeg, Man. Winnipeg, Man. Winnipeg, Man. Winnipeg, Man. Winnipeg, Man. Winnipeg, Man. Winnipeg, Man. Winnipeg, Man. Winnipeg, Man Winnipeg, Man. Winnipeg, Man. Moncton, N.B. Moncton, N.B. Moncton, N.B. Moncton, N.B. Moncton, N.B. Montreal, P.Q. Montreal, P.Q. Montreal, P.Q. Montreal, P.Q. Montreal, P.Q. Montreal, P.Q. Montreal, P.Q. Montreal, P.Q. Montreal, P.Q. Montreal, P.Q. Montreal, P.Q. Montreal, P.Q. Saskatoon, Sask. Saskatoon, Sask. Saskatoon, Sask. Saskatoon, Sask. Saskatoon, Sask. Saskatoon, Sask. Saskatoon, Sask. Vancouver, B.C. Vancouver, B.C. Vancouver, B.C. Vancouver, B.C. Vancouver, B.C. Vancouver, B.C. Vancouver, B.C. Vancouver, B.C. Vancouver, B.C. Vancouver, B.C. Vancouver, B.C. Vancouver, B.C. Vancouver, B.C. Halifax, N.S. Halifax, N.S. Halifax, N.S. Halifax, N.S. Halifax, N.S. Halifax, N.S. Halifax, N.S. Halifax, N.S. Halifax, N.S. 2-storey 2-storey 2-storey lE-storey 2-storey 2-storey 1-storey 116-storey lX-storey 1-storey 2-storey 116-storey 2-storey 116-storey 1-storey l-storey 1-storey 116-storey l-storey I-storey 1-storey 2-storey 2-storey 1-storey l-storey 1-storey l16-storey I-storey l-storey 1-store;r lX-storey 116-storey l-storey 116-storey 2-storey l-storey 116-storey 2-storey 2-storey 2-storey I-storey 116-storey lE-storey 2-storey 1-storey 1%-storey 1-storey l-storey l-storey l-storey I-storey 1-storey l-storey 1-storey 1-storey l-storey 1-storey l-storey l-storey lX-storey l-storey 2-storey 1-storey l-storey l-storey 1-storey 1-storey 1-storey 2-storey 2-storey 1-storey 1-storey 1-storey l-storey 2-storey 1-storey 1)6-storey 19.6 24.5 t4.6 2 r . 5 r7.2 37.4 36.7 28.0 38.2 30.2 23.6 24.6 24.3 3 r . 6 28.2 24.2 27.O 16.9 38.3 38.7 20.2 18.7 3 1 . 8 28.6 2 t . 7 27.3 23.0 18.5 1 8 . r 24.4 o o l 25.3 r8.3 25.8 29.8 17.0 23.4 28.5 29.3 19.2 24.O 28.6 25.6 22.2 19.1 18.2 t6.7 1 8 . 5 20.7 19.4 30.6 27.7 s2.2 s2.1 25.6 24.5 16.9 29.9 29.4 28.9 33.2 42.6 34.2 27.O 26.r 30.6 26.2 z 5 . Y 2 t . r 27.6 57.4 37.2 27.6 34.8 36.4 35.3 24.5 64.5 o l . t 68.4 68.6 76.5 57.2 49.0 54.5 47.O 48.4 65.6 69.6 66.2 60.0 65.6 66.1 65.0 75.5 59.9 56.9 78.5 79.3 66.7 70.0 69.6 72.3 76.3 78.2 72.r 74.2 67.2 70.4 72.4 62.L 63.8 12.9 65.7 58.8 66.2 77.6 69.r 63.3 M.2 77.O 62.7 55.3 69.7 70.9 75.2 78.1 67.7 70.2 66.0 67.8 70.7 70.3 76.4 62.0 D J . O 65.r 65.0 56.2 57.8 56.4 65.6 63.0 6r.5 62.5 7 r . 6 69.5 40.1 58.0 70.8 63.9 62.9 6 1 . 6 74.7
r5.9
r7.8
17.0
9.9 6.3 5.4 14.3 17.5 r4.8 2 L . 4 10.8 5.8 9.5 8.4 6.2 9.5 8.0 7.2 1 . 8 4.4 1.3 2 . 0 1 . 5 t . 4 8 . 7 o.4 o.7 o , o 9.8r.4
r0.4
4.5 9.3 t2.l 6.4 70.r 10.9 12.7 4.5 3.2 6.9 8 . 1 10.2 0.8 18.2 26.5 13.6 10.6 4 . 1 2.5 t.72.r
1 . 8 0 . 1 o . t 5.2 6.7 8 . 1 15.0 6.0 1 . 8 t . 2 8.2 16.6 8.3 6.4 12.3 r 1 . 6 , . o 2.9 2.5 4.8 1 . 6 1 . 3 0.7 3 . 1 0.8 1031.3 8r3.3 r074.4 858.4 1510.6 958.1 445.9 776.0 888.1 779.7 931.2 598.2 874.4 702.8 681.6 690.5 672.8 663.9 7r0.9 432.6 855.1 1 1 9 r . 3 r272.7 8 1 1 . 3 648.8 702.5 608.4 790.6 835.5 849.3 603.3 L248.1 606.7 911.O r133.3 697.0 720.5 1177.3 235.3 tt47.7 705.3 933.3 943.4 1046.3 702.8 1158.2 780.4 747.7 724.7 698.1 822.3 7 3 1 . 1 672.r 647.5 613.1 844.6 837.4 814.8 r096.0 r372.7 929.8 1303.4 1 1 5 8 . 3 733.4 719.0 816.7 797.9 847.2 1 1 9 1 . 2 1r15.4 523.1 604.1 691.4 570.7 1020.5 694.8 IT24,3 Average 26.7lo65.r%
8.2%lesser dimensions.
Fourthly, overall house dimensions are not always multiples of 16 inches. If a wall cannot be divided
",o"rrly into 16-inch spaces at least one space in that wall must exceed or be less than 16 inches. Most often it is the latter.
Conclusions
Based on this survey it is reasonable to expect that, in the average Canadian frame house of today, up to 34 per cent of the exterior wall area will be found to have studding so spaced as to be unsuited to the incorporation of factory-made building materials designed on f l6-inch module.
Some of the causes leading to this result have been
listed. There is no doubt whatever that with greater care on the part of the house designer and builder and on the part of the workmen building the house, the percentage can be reduced.
The product of the workman depends on the product of the designer. Unless the floor plan for the house is designed on the l6-inch (or some multiple) module, and unless the doors and windows be selected to suit the same module, it will never be possible to place all studding at the desired nominal spacing, no matter how proficient the workman. Thus it is evident that the first step toward a solution of the problem is the adoption of the modular co-ordination concept in the design of domestic buildings.
Modular co-ordination is a rather cumbersome term used to describe a very simple aid to building design, first developed by A. F. Bemis of Cambridge, Mass., and since endorsed officially by many agencies in the United States and Canada. Essentially, it consists of no more than de-signing all the fixed components of a building, and the lay-out of the building itself, on the basis of a'Tour-inch module". Simple in theory, it naturally requires care in its application. Fortunately, there are a number of excellent publications on the subject readily available. A selected bibliography is included with this report.
The results of this survey show clearlv that onlv bv the rvide adoption of the principles of modular
"o-ordirr"tiort (whether this name is used by the designer or not) can any real advance be made in dealing with the problem whicl the survey revealed. That there exists a very real problem
E t o e = 5
=
F F 3 5 & o 3 o F z u (, 25 4 u GC-C SPACING OF STUDDING - INCHES FIGURE 2
Woll oreqs hoving vorious stud spocings expressed d3 d percentqge of totol woll oreo
V A N C O U V E R B C F O R T W I L L I A M t .P O R T A R T H U R O N T 1 3 1 4 1 5 1 6 r t t c r l H A L I F A X N S I 9 H O U S E S 1 3 r a 1 5 t G t 7 t a t 9 1 3 t 4 t 5 t 6 t 7 t ! t 9 M o N c r o N N B I s H o u s E s O T T A W A O N T
9 5
t o o
5 s
3 0
z 5
is evident. No attempt has yet been made to evaluate the extent of the waste involved by the wide divergences from standard stud spacing herein reported, but it must be con-siderable. The Division of Building Research will carry on with its studies in this field, therefore, in keeping with its declared purpose of assisting with the improvement of building in Canada.
Srr-ecruo BrelrocnepHy oN Moour-al Co-onotNerroN L Executive Committee of the American Standards
Associa-tion. "Project A62 for Co-ordination of Dimensions of Building Materials". American Standards Association. New York, N.Y. August, 1941.
2. Adams. Mvron W.. and Prentice Bradlev. ,4.62 Guide for Modular bo-ordination. Modular Service Association. Boston, U.S.A. October, 1946.
3. Producers' Council, Inc., and National Retail Lumber Dealers Association. "Here's a better way to build". National Retail Lumber Dealers Assoc. Washington 6, D.C. pp. 44,65. 1948.
4. Adams, M. W. "Modular Masonry". The Constructor: pp. 89-92. JuJy,Ie47.
5. Department of Commerce, Office of Technical Services. "Dimensional Co-ordination of Buildings, and Materials and Equipment, on the Modular System". Final Report. March, 1948.
6. Small Homes Council. "Construction Methods". University of Illinois Bulletin. Vol. 46, No. 12. September, 1948. 7. British Standards Institution Committee. "Modular
Co-ordination". British Standards Institution. First Report. 1 9 5 r .
8. Division of Housing Research. "The Modular Method in Dwelling Design". Housing and Home Finance Agency. Washington 25,D.C. May, 1951.
9. Frankl, Lee. "Modular Construction". American Builder. pp. 14A-14B. November, 1951.
10. Humphrys, B. A. "Modular Co-ordination'. Canadian Builder. pp. 25-26. January-Febru ary, 1952.
AcrNowleocEMENTS
This study originated in the course of the Division's work for Central Mortgage and Housing Corporation. To the Super-visor of the Technical Department of the Corporation, Mr I. E. Ashfield, acknowledgement is made for his initial stimulus and sustained interest. Since the investigation was concerned with the use of wood in building, it has been carried out in close co-operation with the Forest Products Laboratories of Canada, Col J. H. Jenkins, Chief of the Forest Products Laboratories Division of the Deparbnent of Resources and Development, having taken a personal interest in the work. Dr J. W. Hopkins of the Division of Applied Biology of National Research Council kindly advised on the statistical aspects of the work.
The somewhat tedious task of field measurement was under-taken by the following, in addition to the writer, to whom thanks are tendered for their assistance: - Central Mortgage and Housing Corporation, (Maritime Regional Office) Mr G. S. Smith; Forest Products Laboratories, (Vancouver Laboratory) Mr J. B. Alexander; Division of Building Research, (Prairie Regional Station) Messrs G. O. P. Handegord and K. R. Solva-son; Division of Building Research, (Ottawa) Messrs J. I. Law-son, M. J. Goodwin, and J. D. McCrea.
This paper is a contribution from the Division of Building Research of the National Research Council and is published with the approval of the Director, Mr R. F. Legget.
FIGURE 3
STUD SPACING IN A TYPICAI HOUSE
In le1m3 of woll oreqs in lhree sfud-spocing width ronges, expressed or o perceniage of totol wall orec occording lo lorotion in the woll.
