Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Get Builder News in your Inbox Every Day! Click Here Log In or Register
Building Materials HOME > PRODUCTS > BUILDING MATERIALS > SINGLE OR DOUBLE TOP PLATE—DIMINISHING RETURNS?
Trending on Builder
Posted on: April 06, 2011 7 0
For one thing, joining intersecting walls is easy: overlap and nail off. The same goes for in-line joining of the plate itself: just BUILDER Honors
overlap 48-inches and slap in eight 16ds.And with a double top plate, you don’t have to worry about lining up rafter heels or Lennar as 2018
Builder of...
joists with studs. The double plate can take those loads no matter where they fall.
1
1 of 7 16-05-2018, PM 05:10
Single or Double Top Plate—Diminishing Returns? | Builder Magazine | Lumber, Construction, Codes a... http://www.builderonline.com/products/building-materials/single-or-double-top-platediminishing-retu...
Nowadays we’re deeply concerned with being green, making the single top plate a sexy option. But how to overcome the
issues of joints and rafter/joist loads that fall between studs? Fortunately, the building code folks have burnt the midnight
oil and conquered these predicaments. (See section 2308.9.2.1, 2009 IBC.)
On bearing and exterior walls when joists/rafters fall within one inch of a stud, andthejoints, intersections, and
partitions are connected with a 3-inch x 6-inch galvanized steel plate with six 8ds on each side.
On interior, non bearing walls. An interesting note here: Section 2308.9.2.3 says, “single top plate installed to provide
overlapping at corners and at intersections with other walls and partitions.” So how do you overlap single top plates?
The code does allow in-line joints to be connected with a 2x, 16-inch-long block, or “1/2-inch x 1 1/2-inch metal tie with
two 16ds on each side of the joint.” That’s a tiny patch of metal with large 16d nails. I see those nails splitting the single
and poking through way too far. Why not use a bigger plate and more 8d nails?
But wait, as with most things in the building code, there’s more! Should your building be located in a moderate to high
seismic risk area (seismic design category D, E, or F—the entire West Coast as well as other U.S. areas) and the calculated
shear force in your wall exceed 350 pounds per lineal foot (a modest value), you must use 3x or double 2x boundary
members. This would include top plates, bottom plates, and at all sheathing edges. (See table 2306.3, footnote i, 2009 IBC.)
With all the rigmarole involved in using single top plates, I question whether it’s truly worthwhile. In rough numbers, given
a 1,800-square-foot home, a person could save about 400 lineal feet of interior and exterior top plate material using singles.
At 40 cents per foot, this works out to $160. But offset that with the cost of all those metal tie plates and the hassle of lining
up trusses and joists and are you truly ahead? Not to mention that you can’t even use singles in many parts of the U.S.
If I’m making the call, I’d stick with doubles and rack up framing savings elsewhere, like right-sized beams, headers, posts,
trimmers, king studs, cripples, wall studs, and foundations.
2 of 7 16-05-2018, PM 05:10
Single or Double Top Plate—Diminishing Returns? | Builder Magazine | Lumber, Construction, Codes a... http://www.builderonline.com/products/building-materials/single-or-double-top-platediminishing-retu...
Tim Garrison, of ConstructionCalc Software, Inc., is an author, professional engineer, and speaker who lives and works in
Mount Vernon, Wash.
Advertisement Keywords:
Subject:
Lumber Construction Codes and Standards Building Codes Green Building Framing
Product Types:
BUILDER INTEL
How Radiant Barrier Sheathing Improves
Home Energy E ciency
It’s a proven way to lower HERS and
ERI ratings.
BROUGHT TO YOU BY LP
3 of 7 16-05-2018, PM 05:10
Single or Double Top Plate—Diminishing Returns? | Builder Magazine | Lumber, Construction, Codes a... http://www.builderonline.com/products/building-materials/single-or-double-top-platediminishing-retu...
Login
This building replaced a very small 1 story house with a small basement. Calling it green with hard bamboo
laminate and just a small modern heat pump for heat its laughable. The builder is cheat that cheated the
4 of 7 16-05-2018, PM 05:10
Single or Double Top Plate—Diminishing Returns? | Builder Magazine | Lumber, Construction, Codes a... http://www.builderonline.com/products/building-materials/single-or-double-top-platediminishing-retu...
city on the permit process calling it a remodel claiming he would use the foundation then removed it and put
in a new one. The only green in this building is the green going into the builders pocket.
One of the most important non-structural functions of the double top plate is as a firestop. Three inches
nominal of wood is as good as 5/8" FRGWB
and allows 5A continuous protection without the requirement that the ceiling FRGWB be continous over the
partition construction.
5 of 7 16-05-2018, PM 05:10
Single or Double Top Plate—Diminishing Returns? | Builder Magazine | Lumber, Construction, Codes a... http://www.builderonline.com/products/building-materials/single-or-double-top-platediminishing-retu...
But you neglected to include the energy savings in your calculation. Replacing the wood with insulation,
especially if it is spray foam, will save energy costs every month the house is lived in. Tests indicate that
the energy savings is the big deal, not the lumber savings.
Richard C. MacCrea mountainhomeshowDOTcom
Avant Garde Modernist Will Alsop Dies at 70 Webinar: E cient Project Planning and Scheduling
NexMetro Opens Its 8th Single-Family Rental Community
California's New Solar Rules: Getting Beyond 'First Cost' How Hurricane Harvey Has Scrambled Houston's Housing Market
Buckingham Partners Closes 1st Real Estate Fund, at $175M
Cooper Hewitt Announces the Winners of its 2018 National Design Flood Thy Neighbor? Fill in the Floodplain Leads Locals to Worry
Awards Luxury Apartments Achieve 1st Residential Fitwel Certi cation 2018 DIGITAL EDITION
Is San Francisco Ready for an Earthquake? Maybe Not So Much
Perham Living in a Sustainable Building 'Very Important' to 84% of Residents A roundup of 110 materials, appliances,
Pricing Risk Into Your Estimates nishes, and more that exemplify the
Houzz Survey Shows Strong Optimism Among Remodelers, Architects Apartment Sales Market Takes Off in Q1
EPA Re nes Lead-Paint Rule in Disaster Cases latest trends in new-home construction.
Subscribe
BUILDER Online provides home builders with home building news, home plans, home design ideas, and building product information, helping them manage their home building operations e ciently and pro tably.
Builder Relevant Sites Big Builder Custom Home House Plans Dream Home Source ePlans EcoBuilding Pulse Tools of the Trade Journal of Light Construction Metrostudy New Homes
Copyright © 2018 Hanley Wood Media, Inc. All rights reserved. About Advertise Contact Hanley Wood Magazine Private Policy
6 of 7 16-05-2018, PM 05:10
Single or Double Top Plate—Diminishing Returns? | Builder Magazine | Lumber, Construction, Codes a... http://www.builderonline.com/products/building-materials/single-or-double-top-platediminishing-retu...
7 of 7 16-05-2018, PM 05:10