Replies

1. 
   BossHog | Jun 21, 2002 06:11pm | #1

   Seems like everybody has their own way of doing it. I've seen 2 ply header with 2X3 blocks on edge inbetween, and 3 ply header with plywood spacers between the plies.

   I personally like insulated headers, but they aren't very popular around here. Can't find a link to the manufacturer - This is the closest one I could come up with:

   http://www.manionswholesale.com/superiorwood.htm

   I need someone really bad. Are you really bad?

1. 
   Redfly | Jun 21, 2002 08:57pm | #2

   I think solid 6x header are the most cost-productive, since you just slap em in and don't have to dink around with building something.  Doesn't do much for the R-value tho, but its pretty moderate weather around here (Portland, OR) unless you call rain immoderate.

   Like you said, everybody has their own way of doing things.  I build corners in 2x6 walls with 2 studs in the corner and one flat toward the inside. 

1. 
   BossHog | Jun 21, 2002 09:25pm | #3

   "Must be a regional thing"

   I've never seen a solid 6X anything. Have to be a heck of a saw to cut those.

   I've seen a few 4X12 headers used in the chicago area, but they were of such poor quality that I think they were pretty much done away with.

   As long as there are tests, there will be prayer in public schools.

1. 
   Redfly | Jun 22, 2002 12:55am | #5

   I live in the Northwest, and I guess we just take it for granite that everybody has Douglas fir lumber available.  We used to use 6x12 all the time just to cut down on the labor cost of assembling headers, though there are lots of engineered headers available now.  When I was a framer, (back when I could pack 20 studs up the stairs) we used 4x12 for all our headers, even interior non-bearing, since it automatically put door and window openings at the proper height for doors (using 92 1/4" studs). 

   I once did some consulting on a house in Newton, MA, and boy, did I learn about regional differences in building - they thought I was from the moon or Ethiopia or somewhere.  But I learned some good stuff from those guys and hopefully was able to show them some different ways of doing things.

   Where are you located? 

1. 
   Piffin | Jun 22, 2002 04:43am | #6

   back when I could pack 20 studs up the stairs

   That's why you've got those red stains in your shorts. Hemrhoids ####!Excellence is its own reward!

2. 
   BossHog | Jun 22, 2002 12:42pm | #7

   I'm in central Illinois. I've worked in both the Chicago and St. Louis markets over the years, but am now in redneck country.

3. 
   Redfly | Jun 22, 2002 07:57pm | #9

   Why do you say 'redneck country'?  I thought Illini were all cultured chardonnay- sipping gentlepersons.  Like Chicago Bears fans, for example. 

   Out of curiousity, do carpenters around them parts use worm-drives (aka Skilsaws) or circular saws (aka sidewinders)?  When I see a carpenter around here using a sidewinder, I can be pretty sure he's from the East Coast - very few pros around here (or anywhere on the W coast that I know of)  use them. 

   Anybody got any ideas about this?

4. 
   BossHog | Jun 23, 2002 12:23am | #10

   Worm drives are pretty rare around here. I only know of 2 in our town of 5,000. One of them is mine.

5. 
   Brudoggie | Jun 23, 2002 12:29am | #11

   Do you cut with that thing, or use it for arm curls? I thought most of the rednecks lived farther south than that. Time to move farther north , I guess.

    Brudoggie

6. 
   BossHog | Jun 23, 2002 12:40am | #12

   No, I definitely cut with it. Quite a bit, actually.

   I grew up with underpowered saws like the $40 jobs they sell at wal-mart. Dad was extraordinarily talented at some things, but he wouldn't sharpen anything for squat. to the best of my knowledge, Dad never bought or sharpened a saw blade from the time I was 10 until I went in the Army at 18. So throw that in with my "Tim Taylor" attitude/skills, and I bought a 8 1/4" Milwaukee worm drive with a $25 freud framing blade.

   I really like the saw, but admit it's heavy. I like the power and long reach it has. And it really impresses all the other amatures when I show up at a job carrying it. (Mine's bigger 'n yours) But I probably wouldn't want to use it all day if I were a pro.

7. 
   Redfly | Jun 23, 2002 09:35am | #13

   "Must be a regional thing."

   I use a Skil Mag 77 and think it's a great saw.  But I also believe 90% of it is what you learned to use and are used to.  I've been using the same kind of saw for ............well, an awfully long time, and I look like an amateur when I try to use a sidewinder.  But I'm sure its the same for a guy who tries to use a worm-drive who's not used to it.  But hey, how do you heft an 8 1/4" saw around?  You must have arms like Schwarzenegger.

8. 
   BossHog | Jun 23, 2002 03:46pm | #14

   You must have arms like Schwarzenegger.

   Uhhhhhhhhmmmmmmmmm Nope. There's a reason they call me Boss Hog. Although I think I look more like Uncle Jessie.

   A pizza is a terrible thing to waste.

9. 
   Sancho | Jun 23, 2002 07:45pm | #15

   Around here we use solid headers 4x or 6x what ever the plans/code allow. We can use built  up headers also. Darkworksite4: When the job is to small for everyone else, Its just about right for me"

10. 
    Piffin | Jun 23, 2002 07:47pm | #16

    There's a reason they call me Boss Hog.

    Exactly the thought that came to my mind when he mentioned Arnold the Tall.

    Excellence is its own reward!

11. 
    EStorm3 | Jun 24, 2002 07:10pm | #17

    Anything wrong with layered headers using 1/2 foam instead of plywood as spacers?

12. 
    Redfly | Jun 25, 2002 01:52am | #18

    Seems like you could use the foam as a spacer on the inside or outside, but don't think it would work in the middle, having no stuctural integrity. 

2. 
   r_ignacki | Jun 22, 2002 12:16am | #4

   header? I filll it all with wood, the wall isn't heavy enough without it. takes a little extra oooommmmpppphhfff to pick it up.

   no turn left unstoned  

3. 
   NPitz | Jun 22, 2002 04:10pm | #8

   My 2 cents - we build corners using 2 2x6's with a 2x4 on edge between them , with the cavity facing out and filled with insulation. For headers I use 3-1/2 LSL of whatever height is necessary. The LSL's are perfectly straight, don't need to be assembled, and leave us 2" on the interior which we fill with a piece of 2" EPS insulation.