Quote:
Originally Posted by Villages Kahuna
Interior studs are steel and wider spaced than the exterior wood studs. Exterior studs are 16-inches on centers while the interior studs are 24-inches. “Load-bearing” isn’t an issue because the weight of the ceilings and roof in Villages designs is all borne by the rafters which transfer the overhead weight to the exterior walls.
Our builder explained why the different materials. It’s because the quality of wood studs has become so unreliable. He said that there have to throw away 10-15% of all the wood studs they buy, and they’re still not the quality they’d like. He said the use of steel on interior walls (except door and window frames, of course) not only saves money, but also provides much “straighter” walls. We have a Lantana and he showed me how straight and even the really long interior wall was. He said that would be impossible with the wood studs they buy.
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Re: lumber quality
Our previous home was built in 1948. Typical framing lumber 2x4 used to be bigger than it is now. Also, framing lumber is grown on sort of farms for fast growth. Comparing old lumber to new you will see wider spacing between the rings, showing the fast growth.
The same wood variety grown slower, narrow rings will be both harder and stronger.
A friend had a home that was framed with walnut. Whatever his home was worth as a home, it was probably worth more to take it apart and sell the lumber.