Replies

1. 
   BossHog | Jan 04, 2005 03:42am | #1

   SYP studs are denser and stronger.

   SPF studs are straighter.

   That's about all I know.

   Regardless of your relationship with your parents, you miss them terribly after they die.
1. 
   FastEddie1 | Jan 04, 2005 04:35am | #2

   That's about all I know too.  And the syp are a few cents higher.  No offense, but I was hoping for a better answer Ron.

    I'm sorry, I thought you wanted it done the right way.

1. 
   chills1994 | Jan 04, 2005 05:23am | #3

   SYP doesn't want to take nails as easily as SPF.  If you're just nailing SYP plates to SYP studs it shouldn't be a problem 'cause it's endgrain.  Nailing plywood or OSB to the edge or face grain is a different storey.

   Around here, all the roof trusses are made out of SYP.  So when it comes time to nail sheets to the gable ends it seems like we always have to go back with a hammer and finish off what the nail gun couldn't do in the first place.

   I haven't seen SYP studs, 2 X 6 or 2 X 4.  Just 2 X 8's on up is SYP.

1. 
   Piffin | Jan 04, 2005 05:38am | #4

   Somebody needs a better nailgun 

    

   Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!

1. 
   rasconc | Jan 04, 2005 07:39am | #5

   Or compressor and/or regulator setting.

2. 
   Piffin | Jan 04, 2005 07:41pm | #7

   Or an arm strong enough to hold the gun tight against the sheathing 

    

   Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!

3. 
   rasconc | Jan 04, 2005 09:55pm | #8

   Si, Happy New Year.  Also shoot slower maybe.  I have found that the cut-in is low on many compressors.  After searching I got the Hitachi for that reason.  When I called Senco considering one of their lesser ones the engineer said he could send the instructions to raise it a little but it would probably shorten life if too high. 

4. 
   chills1994 | Jan 13, 2005 10:43am | #9

   i'm up for an arm wrestling match anytime you are!

   but really, it might have been a Paslode Impulse framing gun shooting those nails.

   when they work good, they're nice to have, but when they start acting up, i just wanna pitch 'em

5. 
   Piffin | Jan 14, 2005 07:53pm | #10

   Right you are! Cold gun or cold fuel.
   Dirty gun.
   old gunThose things make for a frustrating nail placement game.Arm wrestling - Left or right? 

    

   Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!

6. 
   Sailfish | Jan 14, 2005 11:01pm | #11

   Our addition we're starting in 5 weeks calls for all exterior walls to be #2 syp

    -----------------------------------------------------------------------------

   "It is so, because Piffin tells me it is."

    

    

2. 
   Mooney | Jan 04, 2005 03:18pm | #6

   Theres quite a bit of difference.

   SYP is for strong . I like the top plates ran with it if its holding trusses between span. I noticed the other day , the code is not very forgiving . SYP is native here and its pretty cheap. We dont use it as studs. It warps and bows in the sun big time . We use it on carrier lumber and trusses.

   The soft stuff goes in the walls.

   Tim Mooney

    

3. 
   Frankie | Jan 15, 2005 12:01am | #12

   I asked my old boss the same question when I first started. He explained that the SYP is denser and stronger, as BossHog stated, and therefore heavier - more work. The moisture content is higher also. Therefore, when the wood proceeds to dry after construction it pinches the nails and holds them tighter - provided they were driven in adequately/ properly the first time - head below face. Otherwise, they have a tendency to pop. This is one reason GWB guys switched to screws from nails. Ya can't get the nail below the face of the wood.

   SPF is already too dry and doesn't have the density to hold the nails as well as SYP.

   That's my story and I'm stickin' to it!

1. 
   reinvent | Jan 17, 2005 03:09am | #13

   Um... could somebody tell me what SPF and SYP stand for?

1. 
   Piffin | Jan 17, 2005 03:48am | #14

   SPF
   common whitewood framing - Spruce/Pine/FirSYP
   Harder framing from the southern plantations - Southern Yellow Pine 

    

   Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!

1. 
   reinvent | Jan 17, 2005 06:30am | #15

   Thanks Piffin. Now this has me wondering if anybody here has ever used enginered studs. I have heared that they are really straight and ideally suited for things like walls in a kitchen that you want dead flat for cabinets.

1. 
   UncleDunc | Jan 17, 2005 06:39am | #16

   There was a short piece in FHB some years back by a guy in Boulder who was using engineered studs. He said they cost him about twice as much as solid wood studs, but the bottom line came out about the same because he didn't have to spend nearly as much time culling them, crowning them, fighting with them, etc. So, superior quality at little or no increase in net price.

2. 
   chills1994 | Jan 19, 2005 01:36am | #17

   Piffin,

   Yep, you're right about those Impulse nail guns.  Too much deferred maintennance.

   Either arm!