Framing Jack Studs, the Dummy Version

Jack studs as used in framing

With, we suspect, thousands of self-appointed freelancers jamming the information superhighway (how long has it been since you heard that phrase, huh?), it is never a surprise when we encounter someone who is simply talking through his or her hat when it comes to sharing that "information." Unfortunately, it takes time and at least some knowledge to root out the liars, the second part of which is why eHow.com was so successful at the stupidification of the internet – their fact-checkers were as incompetent (and greedy) as their contributors!

Today's Antisocial Network awardee is a long-time contributor to the motherlode of misinformation, one Thomas West. West contributed several hundred articles to the site, the majority of them automotive (a topic seemingly at odds with his MA in English). Since automotive topics tend to be highly specific, however, our researchers tend to ignore them. They did, however, notice when Thomas ventured out of his depth in another field, the day he pretended to answer the question "What Are Jack Studs?"¹ at HomeSteady.com.

It appears that West headed straight to Wikipedia (although Demand Media forbids use of the site as a reference), although his one reference is, and we quote, "Anatomy of a Sud-Framed [sic] Wall"). West mined that article (and Wikipedia) for all it is worth, providing expansive definitions of jack stud, king stud and header. The problem is, of course, that Thomas has never framed a wall. Had he ever done so, he would know that the claim

"A jack stud is cut to fit the vertical measurement of each side of the opening and are [sic] secured under the ends of the header next to the king studs...."

is simply misleading: what's important about jack studs is that they support the ends of a header, not that they're "secured under" one. Heck, the article he cites clearly states that

"Jacks, sometimes called trimmers, fit under each end of a header, and they transfer the load that the header carries down to the bottom plate and the framing beneath. Nailed to the jacks are full-height studs called king studs..."

West's description implies that the king studs are doing the work and the jacks are just along for the ride, which is dead wrong. As an aside, why does no one ever wonder what happened to the queen studs? West also bungles his description of another framing member found around door and window openings. when he claims that "Jack studs can also be used to continue the 16-inch or 24-inch spacing above and below the opening." We don't know whether Thomas was attempting to be "PC" or not, but we know that no self-respecting carpenter would ever call those little short lengths of framing above the header (and below the sill of a window) a jack stud. Sorry, Thomas: they're cripple studs.

So there you have it: faux expertise for would-be DIY framing carpenters as supplied by a guy working on a PhD in English. Small wonder eHow.com was the laughingstock of the internet for a while, and a major impetus driving Google's Panda update. After all, it's the richest vein we know of for Dumbass of the Day candidates!

¹ The original has been deleted by Leaf Group, but can still be accessed using the Wayback machine at archive.org. Its URL was   ehow.com/info_8305818_jack-studs.html

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