OT opinion on finger jointed wall studs

Legitimate.

Long roof rafters are made from them as well.

quote:

---

Long roof rafters are made from them as well.

---

I was never a fan of it and always tried to get fir for rafters without joints. I had a worker fall through a joist one time because he stepped right on the joint and put all of his weight on it.

Don't they use finger-joimted studs because it resists twisting?

First time I saw it, I remember picturing the house falling like a house of cards in a stiff thunderstorm wind. But I asked a contractor about it and he explained it that they could get some engineered wood cheaper than natural wood studs but the engineered stuff was susceptible to twisting over time in humid environments like the southeast and that it would be just fine as long as they stay under stress (or load I guess)

Not a fan on using them but especially on ANYTHING thats load bearing. But i was a GC and what i built was usually commercial grade spec so they were never acceptable.

quote:

---

Don’t really have a choice when you start getting over 26’ rafter. Change your centers and properly brace.

---

There are plenty of other options, likely cheaper as well. Trusses, wood I-joists, cripple walls you can use to build out a dedicated storage area, etc.

You should always choose mechanical fasteners and splice plates in lieu of glue where the temperatures get really high.

quote:

---

You will get multiple opinions on it. A quality finger joint will be stronger than the wood that surrounds it.

---

Correct. I remember seeing that (mostly in door framing, brick mould etc.) back in the early eighties when I work in retail at a home improvement store.

When learning about those, we were told exactly that and also that this was typically used to connect very straight shorter pieces of wood. That was because it was much easier to find 4 very straight 2 foot pieces than 1 very straight 8 foot piece.