Replies

1. 
   JohnSprung | Sep 24, 2005 01:34am | #1

   Yes.  Let-in 1x4 is what was done in the 1950's.  Here in earthquake country, it's 1/2" Struct #1 ply and lotsa 8d nails now.

    

    

   -- J.S.

    

2. 
   Timuhler | Sep 24, 2005 03:31am | #2

   Fabian,

   Let in bracing is good for preventing racking.  But shear walls are designed to transfer a great deal of energy.  There are some great articles at the apa's website http://www.apawood.org/index.cfm          Here is a link to a pretty good article that is free on their website.  http://s33.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=0KNYF87AT5NFF3PHLDTSJ65PV2

   Here is an article from JLC http://www.jlconline.com/cgi-local/view.pdf/ebc414859148156a15f2b7c6f3f0954a/www.jlconline.com/cgi-bin/jlconline.storefront/43349c2d000a47cf27177f0000010567

   Basically a single piece of sheathing at each corner properly nailed provides 5x the capacity of let in braces at each end.

   Hope this helps a little.

1. 
   RyanBrant | Sep 24, 2005 10:53pm | #3

   The JLC article was a wealth of information.  At the end, it states these values are for code minimum anchors, like J-bolts, I presume.  Do you know, roughly, how these values increase if one uses hold-downs like Simpsons PHD5 or HD6A?

   I'm in seismic land, CA, and want to draw up plans for a detached garage.  If I over-engineer it, fine, and I'll save on having to pay an engineer.  I'm fairly certain that these types of connections are what the plan checkers are really concerned about.  The rest is faily straight forward framing.

1. 
   Timuhler | Sep 25, 2005 02:09am | #4

   I'm not an engineer, so I don't have a good answer for you.

   The prescriptive requirement here is that if a shearwall is 4' or less, then you need 1 1800lb holddown at each end of the shearwall.  It shouldn't cost you too much to have it engineered though.