Hurricane tie question

[William T. Misegades]

Hey guys, are hurricane ties needed to join the bottom window's jack studs to the header to the top window's jack studs which are tied to the top plate?

[Randy L. Mayo, PE]

William

There must be a continuous load path from the truss to the foundation.

[William T. Misegades]

So your answer is no, the extra ties aren't needed because there is continuous load path from truss to foundation since the jack studs for both windows are nailed into the studs which go from sill plate to double top plates and trusses are tied onto the double plates?

[Randy L. Mayo, PE]

My answer would be it depends... What is the capacity of one continuous stud versus two studs nailed together. It depends on how well they are nailed together. It depends on the building inspector's experience and mood that day. It depends if this is one isolated window or eight windows in one wall. It would not be cost effective to do the engineering for all the possible combinations so it boils down to a judgement call 98% of the time.

[William T. Misegades]

This is 3 story home. All the double windows on this house are like that. It doesn't look "right" to me due to the header "separating" the 2 windows. There is continuous load path with the wood frame, but looks like a disconnect for the hurricane tie with that header. But I'm not an engineer. I wrote it up and said to have the engineer approve it.
Thanks for your insight!