I’m building an outbuilding on my property that will be approximately 20×40 with an attic for storage, can I get by with framing on 2′ centers or will I need 16″ centers?
Ron ~ Hillsboro, Oregon
Can I get by with framing on 2′ centers or will I need 16″ centers?
Hi Ron, All of your exterior walls will need to be on 16″ centers. All weight bearing walls should be on a maximum of 16″ centers, and your exterior framed walls will be carrying the attic and roof load down to your foundation. Any openings in your exterior walls, such as windows or doors, should receive a header when you are framing, to also help distribute the weight down to the foundation.
I don’t know if you are using pre-engineered attic roof trusses for the attic level, or you are planning on field framing the roof system, but you may also have some interior weight bearing walls. You will definitely have some where you frame in your stairway. Depending on how much weight you plan on storing in the attic, you may need some support for the attic floor system. If you are using attic trusses, and the bottom chord of the truss will make up the floor system, the truss company can tell you if you can clear span the 20′. if you know how much weight you will have up there, they might be able to beef up the bottom chord to accommodate a clear span.
You should also check with your local building code office there in Oregon, to make sure what I have told you meets local code, as sometimes interpretations can differ between jurisdictions.
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Thanks Jeffrey!
I should have mentioned that the attic will only be on one half of the outbuilding and that there will be 2, 2×10 or 2×12 joined beams running the length of the building through its middle to support the truss system chords. The chords will act as the floor support. The addition of these down the middle beams will definitely add support. I think I will go ahead on 16 inch centers as opposed to 24 inch, though. The savings in lumber by using 2 foot centers isn’t necessarily enough to justify future structural issues. Thanks for the advise!
Hi Ron, Glad I could Help! If you have any other questions, please feel free to send them in.
Regarding structural integrity, it probably makes the most sense to always build any large structure on 16″ centers regardless of how much support the roof system can provide. Now, you can certainly get away with 2 foot centers on smaller structures like small garden sheds, etc. Then again, I’m one to talk..I built a dog house for my labrador retriever on 16″ centers. Haha.
Hi Ron, I prefer 16″ centers for everything myself. I think it does make for a better structure, even interior non-loadbearing walls, and whenever I am framing for myself I always frame at 16 ” centers. I do give customers a choice though, as you can get by with 24″ centers on walls that aren’t loadbearing.