Wood shearwall framing member- minimum width 1

[mrengineer]

I have a situation with high shear where "minimum nominal width of framing member" will need to be 3" as shown in various building code and APA shear wall tables. I am wondering if the most common solution is to use a single member 2 1/2" or wider, or if I can justify nailing (2) 2x's together.

 

[spats]

You CANNOT nail two 2x's togther; it must be solid.

 

[SperlingPE]

I believe the reason for the 3" nominal width required for a high capacity shear wall is because of the tight nailing pattern. What would be the load transfer path if you nailed two 2x's together?

 

[mrengineer]

SperlingPE:
My thought was to nail the (2) 2x's together adequately to deal with the load path. However, it appears that that is not a good idea considering the sheathing nails which would be suspect if they were too close to the joint between the 2 studs.

 

[SperlingPE]

You are correct about the nails being too close to the joint between the 2x's. If you could detail correctly to work, there is no guarantee that it would be put together correctly. Specify 3x minimum members or find more shear walls to take load.

 

[ERV]

See thread507-79456, where this topic was covered.