Expert: Dan Griffin - 12/28/2009

Question
My husband and I are building a new home.  We are in the framing phase and have noticed that many of the 2x4's are not 1 piece of wood, but 2 or 3 pieces of wood glued together to make the specified length needed.  Does this affect the strength of the wood and is this allowed by building inspectors? We are building our home is North Texas.

Answer
Catherine, I'm sure you are referring to "finger joint" studs.  Here is a fairly detailed explanation of the product and answers all your basic questions:

http://www.austinenergy.com/Energy%20Efficiency/Programs/Green%20Building/Source...

They make a reference as to making sure that the local code official will accept the material, and I would be quite confident that your builder has dealt with that detail.

I hope this makes you feel better about your builder and the product.  I wish you could have been comfortable enough with your builder to ask him and trust his answer.  If you are using me as a double check, great.  YOur builder should have given you the same information in writing..