Here in Maryland, we always ran our wall sheathing vertically. I suppose there is some loss of stiffness, but that is the tradition. The inspectors usually required that any seam (horizontal or vertical) in the ply be supported by 2x blocking or a stud.
On a recent trip to Connecticut, I wandered around a couple of jobsites and noticed that they had run the sheathing horizontally, with no blocking on the 8′ edges.
So, my questions are:
1) Stiffness aside, are there advantages to running the plywood across the studs rather than parallel to them, and
2) Looking for some feedback as to what parts of the country these different sheathing methods are used?
Thanks!
Replies
Tom,
This very topic gets hashed out here every couple of months. The last round was maybe two weeks ago. Run a search and you'll find more about the topic than you ever wanted to know. It can get hot in here when regional 'traditions' are debated.
I'm not trying to sh1t on your thread, but this is one dead horse that has been freshly beat.
Sorry, this is my first day on this site. Didn't mean to rehash any old topics, I'll do the search. Thanks!
No apologies necessary dude. Just thought I'd let you know.View Image
According to the APA website, running the sheathing horizontally results in a stiffer application.
Google the APA and you'll find it in there somewere.
blue
if you go to the APA website look for form #E30T page 12 and 13 for span info and 5-14 for more info about plywood et al.
Oops that # is E30EWP you have to scroll around to find it in engineered wood products.
I understand about the stiffness (we always run roof sheathing that way, of course). But as I said, the local inspectors want blocking at any horizontal joints. Is this not the case in other areas?
We don't have to block here. If we did, I would avoid horizontal sheathing whenever possible.
blue
"But as I said, the local inspectors want blocking at any horizontal joints. Is this not the case in other areas?"It's not the case here in NJ. If they started doing that here the framing price would naturally go up. Again, this is just a regional thing.Joe Carola
Yup. It's regional. Blocking all edges is a must here in earthquake country, and also in hurricane zones.
-- J.S.
Here in seismically active Southern CA, it's vertical, and every other run offset half a sheet, like a bricklayer's running bond. Shearwall wise, it doesn't make a lot of difference, but it's what everybody expects to see.
-- J.S.