Drilled Holes Through A Load Bearing Stud 1

[moose_head27]

Hi, I'm looking to get opinions regards holes drilled through studs. The Ontario building Code states that holes can be drilled in load bearing studs up to 1/3 of the studs depth. I've looked at a home which 45% of the studs depth was drilled (2.5 inch hole drilled in a 2x6 stud. Just going by this statement alone would make me think this would not meet code. But I was talking to a co-worker about the minimum size of the stud wall for this application(residential). Code states we could use 2x4's which results in at nearly 2 1/3'' of the stud must not be drilled. Going back to the 2x6, 3 inches of the depth is un-drilled. So wouldn't it suffice since the wall is over-built? I'm not aware of these type of exceptions but it makes sense that it should be allowable.

let me know your thoughts.

 

[Agent666]

The rules around my part of the world are as per the following to give you some idea, for 90mm studs max 25mm hole centrally located. Additionally for the trimming studs supporting lintels there is an additional requirement that there should be no holes within the middle third of the member length. The reasoning for the rules that these areas are low stress areas and don't affect the ultimate bending capacity of the studs which is governed by an elastic stress distribution (fails at the extreme tension/compresison fibre).

Failing that there are lots of products similar to this that can accommodate a larger hole taking out in this case a max 60mm hole in a 90mm stud. They don't help too much when the pipe/cable is already there of course!

 

[JoshPlumSE]

Anything can be allowed if it calcs out. Meaning if the stud is not highly loaded, the hole isn't going to matter.

 

[OldBldgGuy]

JoshPlum cut straight to the chase. If it works and you are capable of designing it, what is the question?

 

[Tmoose]

" ... the wall is over-built? "

Are your 2X6s on 16" centers like the theoretical 2X4s would have been ? ( I presume)

 

[moose_head27]

Hi, to clarify, the wall is built with 2x6's 16 o.c. I was thinking that since the wall is over-built with 2x6's rather than minimum code 2x4's then there must be some engineered acceptable tolerance for drilling holes through the studs which are larger. I'm aware of notching of joists have a similar exception where you over size your joist to accommodate a large notch. I'm not aware of a direct exception however in the obc for studs walls but it would make sense i would think.

 

[Celt83]

how do you know it is "over-built" did you perform the necessary load take down and design of the stud wall yourself to verify this statement, code minimums are just that and apply to only the conditions specified in the code.

Open Source Structural Applications:

https://github.com/buddyd16/Structural-Engineering