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We pay $2.95 for 2x4x 92 5/8 studs and $4.50 per 2x6x 92 5/8 studs here in Houston. Depending on the house, if you're buying 1,000 more 2x4's, that extra $1,500 will certainly pay for itself with the energy savings pretty quickly. The extra $3,000 in wall insulation may take a bit longer as will the extra concrete. But from an energy efficiency standpoint, it sounds pretty good.

You have a higher cost in the extra studs and three times the cost in insolation, plus there is no improvement on the ceiling structure

Doubling the wall labor construction would be cost prohibited would be my guess for many home owners.

What’s the floor?

Nice, lots of work though. Just use ICF and get the air barrie R-30 or more, insulation, structure all in one lightweight piece, and its made in Calgary.. Pacific ICF Faster builds, fewer parts, fewer trades, less waste. Climate rated

BD Test should be done before rough in inspection. The leaks usually are exterior penetrations. Easier to find when walls are open before insulation. Most can be seen visually with light coming through. Biggest leaks are rim joist, plumbing, electrical, sewer and top plate; walls to attic, ceiling lights and HVAC penetrations. Penetrations will not be sealed with tape over netting. ERV's are needed to keep the house fresh and safe from poor IAQ and moisture build up.

seems like it would be cheaper to do the whole house including basement with ICF ??

What about window and door jams? All that’s stuff cost more money I can’t imagine it could be cost effective

Hi Axel I am Particularly interested in the windows you have installed which brand are they,

Sooo glad to see the Lightening in action years from now everyone will say do you remember the old trucks we had to put up with?💨🚭

In 1978 I built a 2200 sq. ft. house and built the exterior walls with 2x10 top and bottom plates and also same for window/door framing but used 2 sets of 2x4 studs. Fiber glass batt insulation was available for this exact thickness. R 30 if i remember correctly ? Blown in cellulouse in the ceiling for R 50. This was in Fairbanks Alaska. I used roughly half of the heating oil that a same size house with 2x6 exterior walls used.

Why all the blocking on the inside wall ??

Am I correct in thinking the plumbers and electricians gonna save a ton of labor by running pipes and wires between the two framed walls instead of boring holes in all the studs? Potentially some savings with this type of build. Also assuming this is a Canada thing or at least super cold weather climates. Everything down here is Texas are just 2x4 wall framing...

Ok lets double the labor and build two walls. Oh and not fire stop. Call the fire marshal.

There is a similar method used when soundproofing walls than can provide similar r value gains with less lumber and labor. That method involves using 2x6 bottom and top plate, and then staggering placement of vertical 2x4 along those plates. With the first vertical stud being justified towards the exterior side of the 2x6, and then The next vertical stud would be Justified towards the INTERIOR side of the 2x6. Difficult to explain with words so imagine if you were looking down on the 2x6 bottom plate from above, the 2x4’s would be positioned like this 👇🏼 EXTERIOR SIDE _________________________________ l I l I l l l I l__l ,__, l__l ,__, l l l l l l l l _________l__l______________l__l____ INTERIOR SIDE and then your insulation gets weaved between the 2x4’s

Is the thermal bridging of a 2x6 really that bad?

Aren’t u loosing 7” of floor space??? 3” (gap space) + 4” (2x4) = 7”

Fill it with concrete

How would an ICF construction with a 2X4 insulted wall compare relative to cost and R value?

My buddy did 2x6 walls with Roxul insulation. On the OUTSIDE he clad the entire home with 2” of hard insulation or polyisocyanurate. He even did the garage this way! He has heated floors in the basement & garage. The forced air furnace was installed as backup for temperatures of -40C and +40C (both can happen over the same year. The only time the furnace cut in was during construction when doors were often open long enough to cool the home down that much. Because the home is solar & wind turbine powered with 3 server racks of lithium batteries as the buffer, it never loses power!! That part was expensive, but it’s maintenance free (basically) and will outlast him! The initial build costs were about 30% more for the construction of the walls and 15% more for the ICF basement. In the attic he buttered the floor of the attic with about 3” of spray foam insulation, then put an additional R40 of blown insulation on top. The foam added about 25%. It was overall less money than double walls fully insulated with Roxul. (Rock wool insulation). The bungalow style home with a walkout basement costs nothing to heat due to solar, but when he calculated it out the heating was about $00 per year!! Since a regular stick built 2x6 home would cost $300/ months average heating & cooling, there is a positive return on the solar/wind power in about 12 years roughly. Since he lives in the country & set his home in the middle of a quarter section (160 acres) of land, he is already ahead financially. He would have had to pay for the transformer, cable, digging & burying and meter to the home. That’s stupid expensive here so the solar and that almost offset each other. He even did a 60 x 80 workshop similarly but the roof is spray foamed on the underside with a thicker layer and then enclosed with steel for aesthetics. He has a separate solar/wind set up for the shop that cost more than it would have cost to just add it to the line from the main power n the home. He even has 240 in 3 outlets plus an EV charging station. He hasn’t used up the full battery bank’s reserves yet and that includes days where 4 guys are working on 2 vehicles and welding a good portion of the day! Of course he could afford the initial hit for these extra costs as he didn’t finance any of the build so there’s no interest costs on the place. This also works well as a system. To each their own of course.

The inner and outer walls are still joined using the second-floor sheathing, correct? If I understand correctly, there is an insulation break between the attic and the walls.

I can't imagine the 10-inch jambs for doors and windows

There’s a game changer called T-STUDS

Yeah, not a fan of cellulose cause it settles

Great build! This is definitely a well built house

STOP Building Walls with Wood Studs - Use light gauge metal instead!

This doesn't have a fire block or stop at the ceiling level on the exterior walls because of the cavity between the two 2x4 walls.this creates a major fire hazard.

Good work man.iam a farmer here in Calgary just wondering how u finish ur windows from inside coz with drywall or MDF it's hard to get clean look in side of the house.

The blocking let's the fire up defeating the purpose.

All I see is double the cost of the construction framing, double or triple the cost of insulation. And Blowing Cellulose into walls Never stays where they put it, it WILL settle, and leave a no insulation situation at the top of the walls in shorter time than you think.

I love this gapped style and use it for my walls, interior and exterior. I stagger my 2x4s so they are splitting the 16” space of the wall before it, furthering the thermal break and noise transfer ability by increasing the distance from 2x4 to the next wall’s 2x4. It also lets you weave product between the two walls easily as there is no longer a pocket created by the two 2x4s in opposition. I am curious of your thoughts on this idea since the cost is the same or possibly 1 additional 2x4 to create the staggered effect. Also, great video, mellow and to the point. Thank you.

Clickbait title got me. Thought it’d be some cheap details but this looks good. Always looking for good value insulation/air sealing factors.

110GJ saved 🤔 I thought it was 83GJ

I’d be worried of that style insulation settling over the years. I’ve seen some videos where they are gutting older houses with this style of insulation all settle halfway down the wall. Mice nests galore also!

I agree with the cost/practicality aspect of double stud walls. Here in Ontario we have found a similar comparison. We have found that installing 1” if exterior Ci to be about the same cost and framing and insulating an additional 2x4 wall. One of the best features of a DS wall is the simplicity of exterior detailing without Ci.

You are 💯 right picking double stud wall. It is by far the most cost-effective high-performance wall assembly available. Nothing else is even close. You nailed it. Great work. I’ve been incredibly impressed with Canadian home builders. Lots of smart products and details we should be using down here where guys pride themselves an bragging about how smart they are. Sorry about that. Some of us know murica has a lot of very stupid people.

Residential framer/contractor in the States here, and when I build my house next year I'll be using a similar approach as you. Nice to see someone else arrive at the same conclusions and dude, appreciate all the insight. It's almost like cheating not having to pay for this. 😎👍

Not much more in material, BUT TWICE THE LABOR! Labor costs are the most expensive part of any construction job.

Ok, BC custom home builder here, typically just do what the architect specs. For my build i was interested in your assembly, and your q and a just clarified my floor question. What about 2 by 6 plates with double 2 by 4 framing on 24inch staggered centres?? Less insulation but no thermal bridging. Thanks for putting up your vids, super interesting

I really appreciate you talking about building up in Canada. There's a lot less content on ol' youtube for us who live in the North. You've sold me on the double studded wall assembly. If I ever get to build a house, this is the wall I want to see. If you don't mind giving up more of your secrets, what do you use for vapour/air barrier in Calgary, and where in your wall do you put it?

Well done! Thank you for the effort!

walls need to be insulated from the outside first then do this or another method to increase R value, a layer wrapping the frame just is best practice to stop the frame frame conducting outside extreme temp swings. IMO

So what about a fire stop between the two walls? Should there not be a metal plate at bottom between the walls same as a party wall in multi family units here in BC? Or is the insulation considered enough?

Just build with ICF and forget about all the extra material and the costs involved

is your extra labor cost figured into that 60%

I use BEAMS baby. No flimsy studs.

This isn't 'new' -- Builders have been using a double 2x4 wall system for years.

Got to be a lot more work and money for a double framed wall. Can you amortize a nd justify the extra costs for a homeowner that might be there 10 years?

Spray foam, probably save you more than this process ever will. Twice the studs, twice the LABOUR. I believe you forgot to mention then when you mentioned the price of a 2x4 is 60% of a 2x6.

It sounds like you basically built a house within a house. I had similar ideas years ago but never came to fruition. Good luck. 🙏❤😊