Any rough framers have a 2009 IRC? I have a question.

[Andrew Rowland]

I always frame my windows, no matter how large or small, with cripples under the ends. I checked with an inspector from the local building department to get his take. In our area (north central Ohio) they will allow no cripples at the ends on windows up to 5' wide. Anything larger they want cripples.
I just installed some Pella windows (casement) about 4.5' wide and maybe 4' high which weighed somewhere around 150lbs. Yes, there were some cripples under the center portion of the window sill, but shims were placed on each end and in the center, shifting all that weight onto three small piles of shims, two of which where on either side.
I agree with most others here - it may not be against code, but I would think it shows which builders care and pay more attention to detail. Minimum code is only a minimum. And it usually isn't good enough.

[Nick Gromicko]

Thank you for helping. Good post.

[Joseph W. Keresztury]

Here's a photo from one of my recent frame inspections in the San Antonio (south Texas) area on a large national production builders home. Volume builders of course cut back on certain things for cost effectiveness, but you can see here they have the jack studs installed below window. I would write it up if they weren't installed, but never have to, at least not til this point. As far as I'm concerned they are required.
Someone made a good point on this thread, but I don't see the post anymore. They felt that it's not that the image- figure R602.3(2) is incorrect but that's it's incomplete. The reason I agree w/ that opinion is because I remembered the Rafter construction image in the 2006 IRC. We use 2006 here. In figure R802.5.1 (pg.267) The roof frame image shows ridge, rafters, joists, purlins and it's bracing but no collar ties which of course are required every other rafter (max. 4' spacing) connecting rafters under ridge. So this image I'm referring to is also incomplete. I can't get my new laptop scanning yet so I can't post that image of roof frame in IRC that I'm referring to.

[Brian A. MacNeish]

Originally Posted by jkeresztury

Here's a photo from one of my recent frame inspections in the San Antonio (south Texas) area on a large national production builders home. Volume builders of course cut back on certain things for cost effectiveness, but you can see here they have the jack studs installed below window. I would write it up if they weren't installed, but never have to, at least not til this point. As far as I'm concerned they are required.
Someone made a good point on this thread, but I don't see the post anymore. They felt that it's not that the image- figure R602.3(2) is incorrect but that's it's incomplete. The reason I agree w/ that opinion is because I remembered the Rafter construction image in the 2006 IRC. We use 2006 here. In figure R802.5.1 (pg.267) The roof frame image shows ridge, rafters, joists, purlins and it's bracing but no collar ties which of course are required every other rafter (max. 4' spacing) connecting rafters under ridge. So this image I'm referring to is also incomplete. I can't get my new laptop scanning yet so I can't post that image of roof frame in IRC that I'm referring to.

There are metal framing brackets available to support plate ends such as in OVE framing.

[Joseph W. Keresztury]

Originally Posted by Brian A. MacNeish

There are metal framing brackets available to support plate ends such as in OVE framing.

There's also brackets available to support headers in lieu of jack studs
under the headers in OVE framing, etc. Brian, do you have pics of these techniques applied from all your framing inspections or did you see this on HGTV and thought it was cool along w/ futuristic. I'm curious to see if anyone has actual pics of this or, what?
OVE framing to the full extent or close to it does no exist in my area.

[Brian A. MacNeish]

Originally Posted by jkeresztury

There's also brackets available to support headers in lieu of jack studs
under the headers in OVE framing, etc. Brian, do you have pics of these techniques applied from all your framing inspections or did you see this on HGTV and thought it was cool along w/ futuristic. I'm curious to see if anyone has actual pics of this or, what?
OVE framing to the full extent or close to it does no exist in my area.

Go to www.buildingscience.com and do a search for "OVE". 4-5 documents come up including one about a project in Dallas.

OVE has been in the books/periodicals for 25-30+ years but rarely gets applied......builders are a very conservative bunch!!

[Vern Mitchinson]

I checked an old book "Practical house carpentry" printed 1965 and I was surprised to find that it did not show cripple studs under the ends of the sill. The older wood windows were shimmed under the jambs and this put the entire weight of the window on the ends of the sill. Go figure.
Cutting the jack stud to embed the sill is a code violation.

[Joseph W. Keresztury]

Originally Posted by Brian A. MacNeish

Go to www.buildingscience.com and do a search for "OVE". 4-5 documents come up including one about a project in Dallas.

OVE has been in the books/periodicals for 25-30+ years but rarely gets applied......builders are a very conservative bunch!!

Hey Brian, that's my point. I.ve never seen it. But thanx for the info, this way I won't be too caught by surprise if I ever do see it. By the way Dallas is 300 miles north of here, so I guess won't be doing that inspection.

[Marcel R. Cyr]

This is a scan from one of my books for Low-Cost Wood Homes for Rural America Construction Manual from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Although, I never framed like this, some would.

[Marvin Maizel]

I always used a double window sill and jack studs beside the main stud under them. It was far more solid and quicker to nail through the main stud into the sills. This method also allowed for better nailing for the apron trim. No jacks above the header and of course cripples below the sill and above the header if room.

The double sill is worthwhile and probably more than code requires. In my opinion.

[ctasker]

In Canada their would be cripple jack studs , have never seen, or framed without .

[Mark S. Tyson]

Originally Posted by gromicko

Nails only hold wood together, they are not meant to be used to carry a load (even if the load is only a window) like the horizontal nails holding up the ends of the window sill are doing in the IRC's figure R602.3(2).

Nick,
You are getting tunnel vision due to your region of the county (snow load). I do understand your concern about down load support but i think that a sill that is face nailed through a jack stud and supported with a "trimmer stud" 16" away is certainly able too support a window.
Viewing the diagram from a "wind borne debris zone" it makes perfect sense in that we must account for lateral, and uplift as well as compressive loads. If the sill is let into the jack stud as in Bob's diagram it would become a hinge point (weak point) in resisting lateral and uplift loading. A strap would have to be added to connect the bottom and top of the cut jack to provide a continuous path of restraint. Even at that it would still be a hinge point and thus weakening the structure

[Stephen W. Stanczyk]

Originally Posted by gromicko

Nails only hold wood together, they are not meant to be used to carry a load (even if the load is only a window) like the horizontal nails holding up the ends of the window sill are doing in the IRC's figure R602.3(2).

Most deck hangers are attached with nails that carry the load and prior to metal hangers, the joists were nailed or toe-nailed to the ledger board. Appropriate size nails have carried loads for longer than anyone here has been alive.

I can't say I have ever seen a window that was not attached in some way to the jack stud and header, in which case there would be a minimal, if any, load on the sill. If the window was not attached to the jack stud or header, the load on the sill would be limited to the weight of the window itself, since the header completely spans the opening.