# 3x sill plates



## petecava (Oct 25, 2011)

Can you double 2x plate or must it be 3x plate?


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## packer_rich (Dec 27, 2009)

what?


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## woodworkbykirk (Sep 17, 2008)

what plate, top or bottom


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## smuhhh (Dec 30, 2010)

:blink:


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## The Coastal Craftsman (Jun 29, 2009)

i normally 5x but if it's 2x for short distance then i may 3x but sometimes 1x might be enough unless the top half plate is 2x then in that case 3x for top sill is for bottom plate for 2x or 1x


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## Chris Johnson (Apr 19, 2007)

Yea the 3X plate was common top and bottom in Cali when I was there. Use 4X, it's cheaper - more commonly available


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## Kent Whitten (Mar 24, 2006)

Must be a 3x or like Chris said, use a 4x. No double 2x's, you will fail inspection and then you're screwed.


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## griz (Nov 26, 2009)

Architect and/or Engineer must approve using 4x instead of 3x plates.

It potentially changes the geometry of the anchors & some other BS jargon they used when it was explained to me...jester::laughing:

They ended up approving the use of 4x but did cause a few hours of grief.

They just want to try & have total control...& can be a REAL PITA if you don't let them think they do...:whistling


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## Kent Whitten (Mar 24, 2006)

griz said:


> Architect and/or Engineer must approve using 4x instead of 3x plates.
> 
> It potentially changes the geometry of the anchors & some other BS jargon they used when it was explained to me...jester::laughing:
> 
> ...


good call griz, you're right. Anchor bolt length right? I got out of dodge before most of that crap came to WA state. Last thing I remember was some bull**** with window sills and double blocking left and right of the window, all strapped together with a CS. I was like "I'm outa here, this is ridiculous" :laughing:


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## thom (Nov 3, 2006)

We always used the X's, the x's are to small and they keep getting underfoot or lost. The same can be said for Y's and y's. 


Generally, in construction, we have XY's, though there are a few XX's out there. When you have an XX-XY, you're golden but if you get that dreaded XY-XY the evangelicals will get you. For some reason they seem to be a little more tolerant of the XX-XX's.

Then, it gets complicated. If you have an XY-xx, you have a code violation. If you have an XY-xy you have a more serious code violation. Lately, it seems there have been several XX-xy's in the news. Some think that the combination is cool, some think it's a code violation.

I know this is location specific but, around here, we generally don't lay our XX's directly on the concrete, it's to hard. Generally we put some of that foam padding under the XX's.


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## knucklehead (Mar 2, 2009)

That all depends on how high your sill bolts are sticking up


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## Brutus (May 29, 2007)

Thoms answer wins.


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## knucklehead (Mar 2, 2009)

KentWhitten said:


> good call griz, you're right. Anchor bolt length right? I got out of dodge before most of that crap came to WA state. Last thing I remember was some bull**** with window sills and double blocking left and right of the window, all strapped together with a CS. I was like "I'm outa here, this is ridiculous" :laughing:






what is a CS?


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## Kent Whitten (Mar 24, 2006)

knucklehead said:


> what is a CS?


We had a couple of versions, mostly the CS16. The CS stands for coil strap. You could buy the stuff in a big coil.

http://www.strongtie.com/products/connectors/cs-cmst.asp

If you had a window that was 4' wide, you were required to put double blocking 4' left and right of the window sill and put this long ass strap on top of the sheathing nailed into the blocks. 12' ****ing feet long....on a window sill. That's when I said "this crap has gone just too ****ing far"

There was more metal in the building than wood. You should see some of the stuff that Sim has in his photos. I thought I had it bad.


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## festerized (May 19, 2007)

CS20 Wall strapping and my favorite, HDU hold downs :thumbsup:


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## Morning Wood (Jan 12, 2008)

I don't even understand the original question? Maybe I'm too tired or just too dumb.


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## Big Shoe (Jun 16, 2008)

Morning Wood said:


> I don't even understand the original question? Maybe I'm too tired or just too dumb.


Me too! :sleeping: inch: :sleep1:


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## TxElectrician (May 21, 2008)

Morning Wood said:


> I don't even understand the original question? Maybe I'm too tired or just too dumb.


I'm no carpenter but I'm thinking some places do not allow stacking 2 - 2x4 for top plate...have to use 3x4?????


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## packer_rich (Dec 27, 2009)

Morning Wood said:


> I don't even understand the original question? Maybe I'm too tired or just too dumb.


There was an original question?


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## Kent Whitten (Mar 24, 2006)

Bottom plates, mostly in seismic and hurricane zones. Usually dealing with sill plates at foundation or subfloor. Shear wall nailing among other things. Sometimes on specific shear walls, they required 3x's where the panels connected. They didn't want the nail heads too close to the edge of the panel, so a 3x would make you place a nail further away from the edge, thus gaining strength.

Seismic and hurricane requirements will make your head spin.

I don't have any pdf details handy. I think that Tim Uhler may if he pops his head in here.


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