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Discussion Forum

Strapping above sheetrock — why???

| Posted in General Discussion on March 25, 2001 03:30am

*
I live in the Northeast and I’m putting an addition on my house myself. I learned carpentry from my dear builder father about 25 years ago. He used to nail sheetrock directly to the ceiling joist. However, when snooping around new construction I’ve noticed that in every new house they nail 1×3 strapping perpendicular to the joist and then screw the sheetrock to the strapping.

My questions is why? I noticed that sometimes they run wiring and/or copper pipes along the joist between the strapping. Is that the reason? So that they don’t have to drill all those holes in the joist? Time is money…

Thanks…
Roger

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  1. The_Tennis_Court_Builder_...on_t | Mar 19, 2001 02:42pm | #1

    *
    It's a regional thing...the guy,who taught the guy,who taught the guy....Mike Smith will splain-it to ya...

    near the stream,

    aj

    1. Francis_Voignier | Mar 19, 2001 05:16pm | #2

      *I think it has a lot more to do with preventing the transmission of vibrations (noise) through the joists than it has of saving the wood from screw holes.fv

      1. PatchoguePhil | Mar 19, 2001 06:29pm | #3

        *Many times it is done to level out any wavy ceiling joists. The strapping can be shimmed in spots.Strapping is also done sometimes over an old wavy existing ceiling where spackling just won't work and tearing it down is undesireable. Just use long enuf screws to get into the joists.Phil

        1. Scooter_ | Mar 19, 2001 06:40pm | #4

          *Check archives on this. There must be 50 postings on this subject. AJ is essentially right, it is a NE kind of thing.

          1. Roger_Dumas | Mar 19, 2001 08:02pm | #5

            *Thanks, guys. I checked the archives and found that it's mostly used to flatten out wavy joists like Phil says. There was one application where they used it in combination with insulating board to get more R value under a 2x8 roof. New England must have gotten a good deal on a very large load of 1x3's from Canada! Thanks for taking the time to reply...Roger

          2. Rein_Taul | Mar 19, 2001 11:38pm | #6

            *Roger,Before you proceed take heed. I used strapping on a large expanse of ceiling in order to level out old wavy joists. I was warned of one thing in advance. Use well seasoned lumber!Strapping is often the cheapest sapwood they can sell off. If you use it fresh from the yard, it will very likely twist and cup. This will negate the benefits of leveling out the joists!Knowing this in advance, I bought and stored my lumber before I even began my demolition. I like to do this with framing as well, if I have room. Sometimes I buy in winter when prices are better and my basement 'curing area' is dryer. The strapping was a great way to level the ceiling and was especially helpful where I had butt joints in the drywall. It does also lower sound transmission, but insulation and/or carpeting above can help more.

          3. Roger_Dumas | Mar 19, 2001 11:54pm | #7

            *Excellent! Thanks for the advice, Rein. I'm doing the addition part time so it'll be about two months before I have to hang the strapping. I have room in the basement for some drying between now and then...Roger

          4. Qtrmeg_ | Mar 20, 2001 12:12am | #8

            *Ya well, if you dry it out too much it will split all to hell. And you sorta need to know who is selling the best strapping...But I always thought it was used to tie the floor system togeather. Strapping will minimize deflection of the bottom of the joists, also minimizing screw pops in the drywall ceiling. Strapping also makes life a lot easier for the drywall hangers.I am probably wrong, probably also wrong about using wood cross bridging, but I am sure someone will straighten me out.

          5. Mike_Smith | Mar 20, 2001 12:16am | #9

            *nope... not me.. i ain't gonna straighten nobody out...we've always furred our ceilings.. and there's a lot of benefits..but it's an added expense...use it green .. right out of the yard.. let the ice melt.. and nail it up good with (2) 8d nails at each joist....in all my searches though.. it IS a new england thing..lucky me.. if i include it .. so does my competition....sure helps out for hidden nailers too...

          6. Cal_Howard | Mar 20, 2001 12:39am | #10

            *Strapping can be skimmed to take out variances on the ceiling plane. The main advantage is stopping the joists / rafters from rolling back and forth causing screws to pop. Also, the hangers run the sheets perpendicular to the strapping and it's easier to screw off the sheets with a 2-1/2" base to shoot for. Another thing is that when framing you place only the load bearing walls, strap the ceiling, and frame all partitions (less the top plate) nailed to the strapping with 3/4" shims applied after the walls are lifted to the lines that you can snap on the strapping. This eliminates ranging and bracing and the associated jungle of sticks in the way as you drive to the ridge. We save the strapping and interior walls for last to get blacked in sooner.

          7. Tommy_B. | Mar 20, 2001 02:45am | #11

            *I think its a waste of time and money, and natural resources.To flatten the ceiling? That's crazy, use it to flatten the walls first. Its easier to spot crooked walls.To "black in sooner"? At the expense of making the framing process grossly inefficient? No thanks.Don't get me wrong, I see some advantages but I was not put on this earth to give drywall guys another inch to shoot for. Or to let the turd chasers and sparkys off easy.Just keep it in new england please.

          8. Rein_Taul | Mar 20, 2001 03:25am | #12

            *Well Roger and I turn out to be DIYers, so we are more prone to inefficiency and techniques WE can get right. I guess strapping is one of them. I sure needed that extra inch to aim for!

          9. Mike_Smith | Mar 20, 2001 03:54am | #13

            *thanks, tommy b.. we will keep it in new england..'sides , my first tennis elbow was from nailing furring overhead... switched to a 2 # hammer inmy younger days.. now,with nail guns.. furring is easy...it also helps with some of our energy conservation building techniques.. if you're building bog boxes.. i can see where furringwould be one a da foist tings eliminated.. but in semi-custom... and remodeling .. it actually helps our efficiency....differnt strokes no doubt....

          10. Pete_Draganic | Mar 20, 2001 05:06am | #14

            *Mike,Just curious.....have there ever been incidents of strapping pulling loose and having a ceiling come down?Pete

          11. Heck_ | Mar 20, 2001 05:35am | #15

            *One thing I haven't seen mentioned in this thread is the fact that 1/2" sheetrock has a tendency to sag when hung on ceilings 2' on center.Maybe that's why the strapping?Or could it be that you boys in the northeast like to squeeze the wall rock on after the ceilings are hung?(talking about walls framed with standard stud lengths and triple plates)In the normal course of construction,I can't really see an advantage to adding the time and expense.jh

          12. PatchoguePhil | Mar 20, 2001 05:59am | #16

            *I use coarse drywall screws for the furring straps to the joists. As good as a screw holds, I don't know how much "load sharing" a 1x3 can provide on the joists nor how much it will hold if a joist decides to twist. To borrow a phrase, ..but hey , wuddah I know

          13. Schelling_McKinley | Mar 20, 2001 12:56pm | #17

            *We use 1x3 strapping when we have trusses on 24" oc to reduce the span for 1/2" sheetrock and so we can play around with the spacing for truss uplift. For conventional framing or tji's we don't use the strapping.

          14. Mike_Smith | Mar 20, 2001 01:21pm | #18

            *pete..yes..strapping can pull out... that's why it's double nailed with 8d... some say dbl nail with 6d.. and single nail with 8d..

          15. G.LaLonde | Mar 20, 2001 02:56pm | #19

            *We have never used strapping so I'm curious about how the reduction in ceiling height affects how you hang the sheetrock. With 92 5/8" studs and 4 1/2" plates , you get a ceiling height of 97 1/8". Take away another 3/4" for the strapping and 1/2" or 5/8" for the sheetrock and you end up with less than 96" of wall height for the sheetrock. Do you guys hang sheetrock on the walls first or what??

          16. tommy_knox | Mar 21, 2001 03:55am | #20

            *I recently moved back to Illinois after building in Rhode Island for 7 years. I was told that the strapping or "farrin"was to shimm the cielings. But in 7 years I never saw any shims on any cieling. Not for nothing, but I think strapping is there for nothing.

          17. Mike_Smith | Mar 21, 2001 04:46am | #21

            *g. .... they always rock the ceilings 1st..the board usually fits with a 1/2 " to spare..depending on the stud length.. sometimes they have to strip the bottom sheet...sorry, tommy.... too bad you didn't make it to 8 years...that's when they reveal the final secrets of furring ceilings... ya left too soon , son

          18. Jeff_Clarke_ | Mar 21, 2001 05:12pm | #22

            *Strapping has become pretty standard around here (central NJ) for custom work, except if I-joists are used. Shimming for leveling is one reason, but also as framing lumber quality has declined, movement in floor systems seems to have increased due to the effects of lumber drying. I think strapping allows for a bit more movement without affecting the ceiling surface. If you have screws actually popping (the way nails used to) you have a real problem.

          19. John_boy_Walton | Mar 23, 2001 12:56am | #23

            *We like to use it particularly in basement applications to get us around those annoying pipes /ac tube/ a wonky ceiling and what ever else some monkey didn't have the for-site or willingness to locate in any reasonable areaalso I find that if for any reason you should need to fish speaker wire,home-run electric or flexible gasoline etc, with a little luck we are be able to maneuver every joist bay works all the time for us In my opinion it's worth the effort John Boy

          20. Gene_Leger_ | Mar 23, 2001 04:55pm | #24

            *For twemty years we have strapped the ceilings 2 foot on center, applied 1/2-inch GWB and pumped 16 to 18 inches of felluloseon top. Never had a sag or collapse. CAUTION.Kraft faced fibeglass batt --ugh--insulation must be installed before strapping. The reason is obvious if you think about it. Also, the strapping makes a chase for running wiring, copper piping and what have you. GeneL

          21. John_St.Onge | Mar 25, 2001 03:30am | #25

            *I like to use a metal RC-1 channel to fir ceilings. I screw ,or nail them on the joists. It will take care of approximatley 3/4" of wave in a ceiling .Due to the fine quality of todays lumber stock. In addition to that, the ceiling shouldn't get screw pops. Because your only screwing the wallboard to the steel channel, not the incredible shrinking moisture ladden ,joist from hell.

  2. Roger_Dumas | Mar 25, 2001 03:30am | #26

    *
    I live in the Northeast and I'm putting an addition on my house myself. I learned carpentry from my dear builder father about 25 years ago. He used to nail sheetrock directly to the ceiling joist. However, when snooping around new construction I've noticed that in every new house they nail 1x3 strapping perpendicular to the joist and then screw the sheetrock to the strapping.

    My questions is why? I noticed that sometimes they run wiring and/or copper pipes along the joist between the strapping. Is that the reason? So that they don't have to drill all those holes in the joist? Time is money...

    Thanks...
    Roger

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