My old boss tore me a new one over my nail spacing - he was right

I've been framing houses for about 5 years and always just eyeballed my nail spacing on sheathing. Last month my old boss stopped by my job site in Denver and counted the nails on a sheet of OSB. He said I was wasting time and money putting in too many. Turns out I was putting a nail every 4 inches instead of every 6 on the edges. I saved like 20 nails per sheet after I started following the code. Has anyone else had a boss correct something you thought you knew?

2 comments

2 Comments

the_brian9d ago

Wait, is nailing edges at 4 inches instead of 6 really that big of a deal? I mean yeah, 20 nails a sheet adds up across a whole house, but you were probably adding maybe 20 minutes of labor too. Code says 6 inches on edges for a reason, it's not like your sheathing was gonna blow off.

elliot_king9d ago

Figured you'd say that, but nah, 4 inches versus 6 is a bigger deal than people give it credit for. The code's not just being picky, it's about the sheathing staying attached in high winds or a seismic event. You're right that 20 minutes of labor doesn't sound like much, but the real issue is you're getting less nails per edge which means more chance of the panel lifting. I've seen jobs where guys cheaped out on nail spacing and the whole wall racked because the edges weren't locked down tight. It's not about it blowing off, it's about the whole assembly staying square under load. Plus once the inspector catches it, you're pulling nails and starting over, which is way more than 20 minutes.