Framing Double-Stud Walls

Transfer the layout, and frame the openings a little bigger—just in case
We learned earlier from Ben and his crew how to frame basic exterior walls using 2x4s. It may have seemed like a low bar on the energy efficiency scale, but that is because the house will have 12-inch thick walls, using a double-wall approach.

When your walls are a foot thick, you don’t need to use 2x6s or exterior insulation.

Because. Your. Walls. Are. Twelve-inches. Thick.

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[benjaminpohl]

This guy is my hero. For a couple taps of the hammer, he takes the time to put in ear protection. Sound advice for anyone who wants to be able to hear into their later years.

[edsmith]

Wife and I built our house like this in 1984. Double 2x4 with a 1 inch air space between. Outside studs 24" OC, inside 16"OC. Only place the touch is the top, where I used a 9" strip of 3/4" plywood all down the walls. Good way to go back then. We did it because I felled some of the timber on our place and milled it, so lumber cost was very little.

Both walls filled with fiberglass insulation we got for free from a local water heater took back the old heaters under warranty that failed and had a place out back that stripped them down...sheet metal in one pile, thermostats/wire in another, etc. The fiberglass insulation (used at that time) they would bag up in huge plastic bags and you could get it for free. I'd stop by every time I was in town and haul 2 bags home (all that would fit in my truck), stick in the loft of our barn for the house build. Stuffed it in the walls, then used 6mil plastic for a vapor barrier.

We've just started a remodel of the master bathroom. Pulled all that insulation out (took 20 of the large black contractor type trash bags to hold it). I'll be spraying 2-3" foam this time on the outer wall, then re-pack the insulation and plastic vapor barrier again. Good for the rest of my lifetime and then some !

[nataliefitzgerald]

Great video- and thanks for taking the time to try to educate the many nay-sayers who have little experience or knowledge. My house uses one 12, 000 BTU heat pump for heating and cooling 1824SF. Double stud walls similar to these described here except I lined the window openings with 1/2" plywood. I did connect the 24" OC 2x4 studs with a plywood gusset every three feet to stiffen up the walls. Straight window openings are lined with white painted plywood extension jambs that fit into the 1/2" "drywall channels" on the Marvin windows. Many people like to sit in the windowsills that are not filled with plants. The talk about rodents is crazy- no way there are any rodents in any house I've ever built! Living in a house with ZERO energy bills plus plenty of kwh to charge electric vehicles is really nice (9.9 kw solar array). Spend the money up front on insulation and solar panels and then never pay for energy for the next 30 years. Dense pack cellulose is fire retardant as you say and makes a really quiet and well insulated house when combined with the 16" loose fill cellulose in the attic. Total insulation bill including fiberglass in the attached garage and all interior walls for sound insulation was $9800.

[jpaulgagner]

Barney style.
Definitely one of the simplest explanations of double-stud framing I've seen. First, you need to know WHY before you learn HOW. It stops us from "cutting corners"

[johncahill]

I built my workshop this way ten years ago, in the Arizona high desert (hot summers, cold winters).  Although I used glass insulation in both walls. It's not just great for insulation value (I neither heat nor cool) but with a little extra care (sealing seams) I made it virtually soundproof as well. I can run my equipment late at night and the neighbors have no idea. Meanwhile, the house I built out of that shop is a post-and-beam Straw Bale...now that's some insulation!

[MegsCarpentry-lovedogs]

Dang! This man is a quality carpenter, OCD, belt and suspenders sort of fella, integrity in his work, great attitude and super smart! 👍💯 🇨🇦🍁

[roadrash]

Wow, this is exactly what I was looking for and had planned for my next build. I can not believe this was filmed 3 years ago. It is the first video I have seen on this. I was wondering about the connection between the two walls without sacrificing the thermal transmission. Thanks, exactly what I was looking for.

[Bluephrog]

My brother and I built a house in VT using this technique in 1985. 2800sq’ house 2 floors. One tank of fuel oil heated it for the year. Super insulated and very quiet.

[stevencraig]

This video was jam packed with know-how. I love the time you took for the cad drawings. You should have 100k subscribers. Well you just got another one.

[IppiopaidFEEDBACK]

A couple good tips here. Especially the router, never thought of that!

[markpalmer]

Much better! Really like the fluid applied flashing.

[PNW_Sportbike_Life]

Super good for fighting sound transfer as well!

[HowTo-wdic]

I basically built my home 30 years ago in this same fashion it has R42 plus mathematically figured I did many other things as well but for now we will just stick with the wall thickness and insulation factors. It works I live in high elevation area 30 40 bellow is not uncommon I heat 6500 sq.ft for 100 dollars a month year round average. It was all worth the 1/3 more in building cost.

[MegsCarpentry-lovedogs]

Gotta love that Zip sheathing, Zip flash tape and Zip stretch tape! Here in Canada we have another brand which is more accessible. The Zip R sheathing with polyiso does not do as well here thermally as rigid foam here in Zone 7, Canada. I wonder if they will change the Zip R to rigid foam instead??? Thank you for the detail and work to edit this helpful Video! Long live our houses, Steve Baczek, architect and guest on Risingers The build Show. ☺🇨🇦

[kevindouglas]

I did this many year's ago but we always offset the studs so the edges of the insulation wouldn't align. Less heat loss along the edge of the studs. We put bat type unfaced insulation toward the outside of course the studs in the middle (offset 8 inches) helped hold them in place. Then we put standard 3 1/2" faced insulation on the innermost framing. We did the windows in a way similar to what you did it but we were also required to put a fire stop at the top of the wall.

[je-fqve]

I learned on double wall construction you frame the exterior wall for exterior sheathing layout. On the interior you do layout for sheet rock. It is laid out for best sheetrock layout not stud layout for the plywood. We also offset them, putting them parallel creates cold spots from nearby thermal bridging. Also, I think there is a lot to be gained from splaying the interior walls and turning the sills into friendly places to sit against. For top performance sliding pocket door can fit in the window spaces for thermal protection at night or extreme weather. Nice work

[lsandk]

I built my house with double 2x4 walls lined up the framing like shown here then used cardboard to connect the inner and outer studs together to make cells. Then blew in fiberglass using the bibs system and ended up with an r50. Also used triple pane windows and don't have any concrete touching the ground, I used high density styrofoam under the footings and wrapped the sides with styrofoam as well.

[chrisg]

Whack the framing to show it who's the boss. These videos are great.

[shopart]

I’m in the insulation business. Heat loss is normally figured 5% floor, 20-25% wall, 70-75% ceiling. With waste of natural resources and interior square footage I don’t understand this system of framing. I would put the money in ceiling insulation and Geo heat.

[gregarioussolitudinist]

That is VERY DIFFERENT and I want to see MORE.