In construction framing (at least here in the USA) standard spacing of wall
studs, floor joists, as well as some other things is 16" on center.

If you frame with 2 X 6 studs they only need to be on 24"centers.
John

Many of the tapes will also have marks at multiples of 19 3/16+a 
bit.....sometimes used for floor framing.
It's 1/5th of 8', where 16" is 1/6th.....so a 20% savings in joists.

-----Original Message----- 
From: John Tomczyk
Sent: Thursday, April 17, 2014 11:24 AM
To: OldTools@r...
Subject: [OldTools] 16 inch centers

In construction framing (at least here in the USA) standard spacing of wall
studs, floor joists, as well as some other things is 16" on center.

If you frame with 2 X 6 studs they only need to be on 24"centers.
John

I would be really interested to know the oldest example of uniform 16" 
spacing.

My guess it was developed by trial and error and came to something near 
that standard in the early 1800's and as a rule somewhat later say 1920 
or so.
  Those are both flat out guesses.

Mike Graf

> I would be really interested to know the oldest example of uniform 16" 
> spacing.

I would as well.  I do remember one particular house I worked on had the 
uniform
16" spacing, and had been built in 1887 (it was still owned by the same 
family).
Nothing stands out to me to suggest this was anything but standard in 
the Victorian
houses here in Sacramento.

> My guess it was developed by trial and error and came to something
> near that standard in the early 1800's and as a rule somewhat later
> say 1920 or so.

There was a discussion of the 16" standard on a contractor's list not 
long ago
and one fellow claimed it was a standard developed in England and had to 
do with
the demands of plastering walls -- the spacing kept the walls from 
flexing and
disturbing the plaster's surface over time. The earliest builder's book 
I have
dates from 1911, and 16" is the standard there.

Mike in Sacto

My house was built in 1821 (or possibly earlier, but 1821 is what I can
document). It's post and beam with 3x7 and 2x7 "studs" filling between the
posts. Spacing ranges from 14" oc to 16"oc for the walls, floor joists are about
the same and tending to be more in the range of 16" oc. And, yes, I know that
the wall studs aren't structural, they're there to hang the lathe (accordion)
for the horsehair plaster.

DGW

> I would be really interested to know the oldest example of uniform 16" 
> spacing.