I am looking a buying a house with a detatched oversize garage /24x30-8 ft celing,with about a 6/12 pitch hip roof.
now, my question is.
all of the wall studs are "finger jointed 2x4". material
I was under the impression that finger jointed lumber was to be used Only for Non Load Bearing walls?
the inside in unfinished, exposed studs all around.
the exterior has 4x8 hardie siding nailed directly over the felt covered wall studs.
NO sheathing under the hardie siding ?
again, I thought the siding required sheathing under it. ( the siding actually has a 8" round hole in it-like someone chunked a large rock/brick at it)

any one have any input ?

thanks / Mike

 

I'm under the same impression. I'm not a big fan of finger jointed studs.
Not sure on the sheathing issue.... although I would have used some type of sheathing.
How about the roof rafters..... what are they made of ?

 

I'm a painter, not a carpenter but I'm fairly sure I've been on new construction jobs where all the studs were finger jointed. The carpenter/builders like them because you rarely have a warped stud. Unless I'm mistaken the 4x8 siding panels take the place of the sheathing.

 

thanks for both replys.
the celing joist & rafters are regular deminsional lumber

it's not what I prefered, but I guess, if it passes a prepurchase inspection.
It's built to code ?

 

At least it is finger jointed. I was in a mobile home where the inside paneling had been removed. The load bearing exterior walls had studs made of short lengths (approximately 2') of 2x2 just butted together and stapled, one leg of the staple on each side of the joint, about 6 staples per joint. Not a few, everyone.

 

Codes vary, you'd need to check with your locale building dept to find out if it meets code in your jurisdiction. Codes change so you'll also need to let them know when the house was built.

I don't know about today but there used to be a big difference in how the different MHs were built, some were decent while others like the one mentioned are just thrown together.

 

Yeah, check with the AHJ right away before you make an offer on the property.

 

Most manufacturers claim that their finger joints are close to twice as strong as the lumber they are joining. And finger jointed studs have been around and code approved for some time now.

My own experience with them is slightly less than stellar, however. I bought a half-dozen, primed 5/4 x 2 trim pieces, 20' long, a few years ago. While carrying them (2 at a time) from the truck rack, one of them broke cleanly at one of the joints, just from bouncing in my arms as I was walking. A closer examination of the broken joint showed there was no glue on or in between any of the fingers--just clean wood. Guess the primer was all that was holding that joint together.