# 19.2 centres



## dom-mas (Nov 26, 2011)

Anyone ever seen or put studs at 19.2 OC? Here residence is 16" OC and a garage can be 24" OC but I've only seen floors @ 19.2 OC, until yesterday. Was putting in wall ties and the garage wasn't on 16's or 24's. Wised up and found the studs @ 19.2. Never seen that before


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## NCMCarpentry (Apr 7, 2013)

Never seen it but always thought it was a pretty good idea... Only issue would be that I don't think they make fibreglass batts that size. Would be a good compromise between saving material, more efficient insulation and structural stability (I've found some 24" O.C walls to be flimsy)...


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## cantgetin (Feb 21, 2014)

I've built two houses in the past ten years where almost everything (exterior walls, ceiling joists and roof rafters) were on 19.2 centers. Both had 2x6 exterior walls. I liked the fact that all of the joists tied into the rafters.


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## Golden view (Feb 16, 2012)

I've never seen 19.2 insulation. Anywhere they use IRC you can use 24" OC in certain cases, like up to 2 stories with 2x6. IRC doesn't mention 19.2 for walls. I bet drywallers would hate it too.


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## SAcarpenter (Oct 10, 2008)

We worked for one builder that had2x4 walls and floors 19.2, trusses 24. Then they went 2x6 walls and made floors, walls and trusses 24


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## jlsconstruction (Apr 26, 2011)

I've never seen it for anything. Isn't it a Canadian thing?


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## Warren (Feb 19, 2005)

We have had floor trusses spec'd that way occasionally. Never done any walls 19.2.


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## cantgetin (Feb 21, 2014)

You may not have noticed but many tape measures have a little black diamond every 19.2 inches. Insulation batts not an issue as I used spray in fiberglass in both of them. Not sure why it would be an issue for rock hangers. Used 5/8" rock on these projects.


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## Golden view (Feb 16, 2012)

Anybody notice almost all tapes have markings for 19.2?


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## cantgetin (Feb 21, 2014)

What's with the time stamp? It says my last post was 2:26 am.


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## JT Wood (Dec 17, 2007)

you can get fiberglass for 19.2" Im pretty sure.


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## JT Wood (Dec 17, 2007)

jlsconstruction said:


> I've never seen it for anything. Isn't it a Canadian thing?


why would it be canadian? I think it's more of an I joist thing


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## jlsconstruction (Apr 26, 2011)

JT Wood said:


> you can get fiberglass for 19.2" Im pretty sure.


Oc has it

http://www2.owenscorning.com/comminsul/documents/insulation specification technical data guide.pdf


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## jlsconstruction (Apr 26, 2011)

JT Wood said:


> why would it be canadian? I think it's more of an I joist thing


Someone told me that a long time ago. I was more asking then telling. I though it somehow worked it's way to metric or something. Like I said though, I've never seen it used. Everything we do is 12oc 16oc and 24oc


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## B.D.R. (May 22, 2007)

Yes truss joists, are spec'ed for 19.2. Most good builders will still put them at 16".
Can end up as a pretty bouncey floor.
Never seen studs at that spacing though.
Builders don't want to pay for blocking in cabinet areas. I hate 24"


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## JR Shepstone (Jul 14, 2011)

cantgetin said:


> What's with the time stamp? It says my last post was 2:26 am.


You're on GMT. You can Change it in the settings.


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## JR Shepstone (Jul 14, 2011)

It's divisible by 96". (8'-0")

96/19.2=5.


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## JT Wood (Dec 17, 2007)

jlsconstruction said:


> Someone told me that a long time ago. I was more asking then telling. I though it somehow worked it's way to metric or something. Like I said though, I've never seen it used. Everything we do is 12oc 16oc and 24oc



24" x 4 =8'
19.2" x 5 = 8' (doesn't work good with fractions.)
16"x 6= 8'

It Is just to save on material. :thumbsup:


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## Dan_Watson (Mar 1, 2008)

Our current project that I think may never get through plan review....has joists at 19.2, studs 16, and trusses at 24.....Joists and trusses are perpendicular....


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## brickhook (May 8, 2012)

There's an old company here that builds developments and cheap spec houses, that builds everything on 19.2 OC. They are the only ones around here that does it.

You know if you do any work on an old house, and everything is 19.2, it's a Town and Country house....


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## Deckhead (Dec 9, 2010)

I thought it was a half meter.


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## jlsconstruction (Apr 26, 2011)

Deckhead said:


> I thought it was a half meter.


A half meter is 19.68"

I was trying to figure out why I thought it was metric but couldn't


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## Bearded Wonder (Jan 21, 2011)

I was superintendent for an outfit that put ceiling joists and rafters on 19.2" centers. Never did wall studs on that layout, but I have done 2x6 exterior walls on 24" centers. 

I thought it was a good idea, because all the rafters were nailed to a joist, and the rafters being closer together makes the decking more solid. Normal here is joists @ 16" OC, and rafters 24"OC.


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## dom-mas (Nov 26, 2011)

Dan_Watson said:


> Our current project that I think may never get through plan review....has joists at 19.2, studs 16, and trusses at 24.....Joists and trusses are perpendicular....


This is what I see most commonly. 2x6 studs @ 16", trusses @ 24", and engineered joists @19.2". IF everything is regular dimensional lumber (rare but you see it in additions still) joists and rafters will be commonly @ 16" and occasionally oversized @ 24"

Not sure if this garage will be insulated or not... fairly sure it will be

Haven't seen 2x4 exterior studs except in sheds and the like since the 80's, but it's mostly due to insulating value I've been told


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## builditguy (Nov 10, 2013)

I have only done TJI @ 19.2. That was because it was specd by architect. I haven't seen 19.2 used anywhere else, but it makes sense to keep things stacked. Savings would be minimal. (on a single project)

I have seen some wierd spacing though. In old houses you never know what you will find. Last year I found 21" on center rafters. Along with the occasional 29" spacing.

About 17 years ago I installed steel trusses on a project. The studs in the gable end truss were 27" on center. A pain to sheet. I assumed somebody in the factory laid out from the center and put the studs on the wrond side of the mark?


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## JT Wood (Dec 17, 2007)

Dan_Watson said:


> Our current project that I think may never get through plan review....has joists at 19.2, studs 16, and trusses at 24.....Joists and trusses are perpendicular....


That's pretty standard here


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## C2projects (Jan 9, 2013)

Here it all depends who you're building for and the weight of what's going on the floor. I've done 24" OC joist 19.2 OC joist and 16" OC joists.


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## dom-mas (Nov 26, 2011)

C2projects said:


> Here it all depends who you're building for and the weight of what's going on the floor. I've done 24" OC joist 19.2 OC joist and 16" OC joists.


The question was about studs though, not joists.

Really the only other thing besides insulation is that you would need to run the sheathing horizonatally rather than vertically to hit 8', same for drywall. Neither is really a problem, except you could run into more waste just because you don't have the same options as 16's and 24's


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## Golden view (Feb 16, 2012)

cantgetin said:


> Not sure why it would be an issue for rock hangers. Used 5/8" rock on these projects.


No where for their 12' sheets to fall. Gotta burn 9.6" for long runs.

Also, probably not experienced with eyeballing 19.2 centers.


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## rotarex (Mar 31, 2008)

i see it only being to save material, but labour on 5/8 drywall would be a beeotch


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## dom-mas (Nov 26, 2011)

Well it seems that even the dwelling part of these houses are 19.2 OC, One stud i couldn't find was @21". Weird


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## JT Wood (Dec 17, 2007)

dom-mas said:


> Well it seems that even the dwelling part of these houses are 19.2 OC, One stud i couldn't find was @21". Weird


Wrong side of the x?


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## Tom M (Jan 3, 2007)

The building science gurus are pushing this I believe.

There is too much lumber and thermal bridging at 16 o/c yet 24's are a bit weak. 19 is not terrible, probably pretty good but take some time to get used to.


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## dom-mas (Nov 26, 2011)

JT Wood said:


> Wrong side of the x?


No, I think because the wall returned there they just gave it a miss at 19 and put it in at 21


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## Brutus (May 29, 2007)

I have framed many homes with bearing/exterior walls on 19.2 and the interior non bearing on 24

12' drywall was only used on the ceilings, 19.2 joists, but we strap on 16's here, so that's a non issue.

Trusses on 24s

When you are framing 10+ 6 unit town homes per street. That's a LOT in stud/joist saving.

As someone else pointed out, insulation is available at the correct size for it.


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## Fouthgeneration (Jan 7, 2014)

It all goes back to that Least common denominator lesson in third grade math class:

USA and Imperial building products(pre metric) all based on 16" modules/stud centers. Along comes 4'x8' (48"*96) plywood flooring, sheating and roof decking, oppourtunity to same ~15% labor going to 19.2" from 16" using same thickness of sheating, or using thicker sheating that holds fasteners better, partially paid for by fewer members/fasteners...
2x4 floor trusses @ 19.2" have only a 1.2" wider clear span than 2x12 joists @ 16"..

for a less than 1000.00$ upgrading the subflooring and the roof deck 1/4" improve the durability of the home for generations....

Lay out your building for 16" modules to lower waste, lay it out to 48" modules across the floor system to save more...

Very similar to "Queen" sized brick,3.2" that lay 5 courses to a module(that same one only vertically now....) with similar probelms, half module window unit heights create a need for a ripped course of specials under the sill rowlock, that extra cutting can consume the majority of the labor "savings"


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## dom-mas (Nov 26, 2011)

Brutus said:


> I have framed many homes with bearing/exterior walls on 19.2 and the interior non bearing on 24
> 
> 12' drywall was only used on the ceilings, 19.2 joists, but we strap on 16's here, so that's a non issue.
> 
> ...


Yeah I've been working a subdivision this winter. 80 homes per block, 3 blocks and 2 cul de sacs of a couple dozen towns....lots of material savings


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## Golden view (Feb 16, 2012)

Looking at the material saving on a large scale is what gives us all kinds of shoddy things. Save $100 per house and some big contractor gets an extra $100k salary.


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## dom-mas (Nov 26, 2011)

agreed, the difference between building to code and knowing that the code is simply a minimum.


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