Hello!
Damn fuzzy topic, I know.
If someone builds a house without construction drawings (except for the roof trusses, etc.), where a carpenter, well, let's say, "eyeballs" how the load-bearing walls should look, etc., and this is not dimensioned correctly.
How would this be noticeable?
Does the house collapse one day?
Or is it something that happens slowly, slowly, a few millimeters per month, so that the walls, etc., become crooked and maybe the roof sags?
Some acquaintances of mine are thinking of doing this, and I have to advise them against it because it doesn't feel very safe.
Damn fuzzy topic, I know.
If someone builds a house without construction drawings (except for the roof trusses, etc.), where a carpenter, well, let's say, "eyeballs" how the load-bearing walls should look, etc., and this is not dimensioned correctly.
How would this be noticeable?
Does the house collapse one day?
Or is it something that happens slowly, slowly, a few millimeters per month, so that the walls, etc., become crooked and maybe the roof sags?
Some acquaintances of mine are thinking of doing this, and I have to advise them against it because it doesn't feel very safe.
As long as they don't use 70x45 studs and paper cloth for wall cladding, I find it hard to believe they would end up underdimensioned. Carpenters also often estimate with a good margin. If it's a new construction, wall stud thickness is also determined by insulation requirements.
However, if it were to be underdimensioned and collapse, it would either happen in a storm with a lot of creaking and crashing or slowly sink in by a millimeter per day.
Edit. Here is a good link so you can check if your friend's house is underdimensioned http://www.traguiden.se/konstruktion/konstruktiv-utformning/stomme/vaggar/vaggreglar/
More important perhaps is that the carpenters know what they're doing so that the stability is properly ensured.
However, if it were to be underdimensioned and collapse, it would either happen in a storm with a lot of creaking and crashing or slowly sink in by a millimeter per day.
Edit. Here is a good link so you can check if your friend's house is underdimensioned http://www.traguiden.se/konstruktion/konstruktiv-utformning/stomme/vaggar/vaggreglar/
More important perhaps is that the carpenters know what they're doing so that the stability is properly ensured.
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As mentioned, it is not possible to undersize the walls from a load-bearing perspective. Therefore, nothing will happen. The dimensions of the studs are chosen almost exclusively based on insulation thickness. No one insulates their house with only 45 mm, which could possibly become critical with very high wall heights. However, since you also use boards on the inside and often some type of wood panel on the outside, this would also hold.
Self-builder
· Stockholm
· 8 605 posts
As mentioned, you need some really flimsy timber to under-dimension the walls, but you do need to think about where to attach the rafters, so that you have a sufficient wall plate over windows, etc.
But if you build with, for example, 95x45 and boards, it will be stable as long as you don't have glass sections or similar where you might need to insert a beam.
If it is under-dimensioned, things can indeed settle - more likely, it will collapse during a snowy winter or similar - but before that, you will probably see deflections and perhaps cracks as well (if something is exposed). There are quite scary examples of constructions with cutouts in load-bearing parts, rotten joists, etc., that have still stood for 50 years, so the risks aren't that great if, as mentioned, you don't significantly under-dimension, at least as far as walls are concerned.
/K
But if you build with, for example, 95x45 and boards, it will be stable as long as you don't have glass sections or similar where you might need to insert a beam.
If it is under-dimensioned, things can indeed settle - more likely, it will collapse during a snowy winter or similar - but before that, you will probably see deflections and perhaps cracks as well (if something is exposed). There are quite scary examples of constructions with cutouts in load-bearing parts, rotten joists, etc., that have still stood for 50 years, so the risks aren't that great if, as mentioned, you don't significantly under-dimension, at least as far as walls are concerned.
/K