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The length of the framed run, end to end, along its plates.
Every plate runs the full length, door openings included: the bottom plate is laid through a doorway and cut out once the wall stands. For a house, run each wall separately or add the walls' lengths, and count the corners and junctions to match.
Tools needed: Tape measure
From the underside of the bottom plate to the top of the top plate.
The height of the frame itself, plates included. The page takes the plates off it to find the length a corner or junction stud is cut to, and measures the cripples from it.
The centres the wall is laid out on, the same as the stud count uses.
Cripples above and below an opening stay on the wall's layout, so the spacing sets how many each opening takes. Enter the spacing from your framing plan: 400 or 600 mm in metric framing, 16 or 24 in in North American framing.
The thickness of one plate laid flat, which is also one stud's or one jack's thickness.
A North American 2x member is dressed to 1 1/2 in (38 mm) under PS 20, the American Softwood Lumber Standard; UK CLS studwork is 38 mm (1 1/2 in). The plates' thickness comes off the wall's height, and one jack's thickness is added at each end of a header.
A double plate is the code's default; a single plate needs ties and framing in line.
Section R602.3.2 of the IRC caps a stud wall with a double top plate, its joints staggered and lapped at corners and at bearing partitions. A single plate is the alternative where the corners, intersections and splices are tied with steel plates from its table and the joists or rafters bear directly over the studs; whether your wall may use it is your building official's call, not this page's.
How many outside corners the run closes, counting each corner once.
Where two walls meet at a corner, give the corner to one of them, so a rectangular house has four. The corner's extra stud is cut to the stud length.
Three studs is the traditional corner; two studs with drywall clips is the advanced-framing one.
The Building America Solution Center notes that corners are typically framed with three studs, the third mostly a nailing edge for the board inside, and that a two-stud corner with drywall clips or a nailing strip leaves the corner open to insulation. Each wall's end stud is already in the stud page's count, so a three-stud corner adds one stud and a two-stud corner adds none.
How many interior walls butt into the run, each needing a backer in it.
Every wall that ends against this run needs something in it to fix the partition's end stud and the lining's edge to: a post of two studs, or a ladder of short blocks.
A T-post is two studs; ladder blocking is short blocks across one bay instead.
The Building America Solution Center describes the traditional T-post as two studs set in the exterior wall where the partition lands, and ladder blocking as short flat sections between the exterior studs either side, 24 in (610 mm) apart up the wall. The ladder's blocks are counted here, each one bay long less one stud's thickness.
Windows in the run: each gets a header, a sill and cripples above and below.
Count every window opening framed in this run, whatever its size; enter their rough-opening width in the next box.
The rough opening's width between the jacks, from the window maker's sheet.
The window maker gives a rough opening for each unit, a little larger than the frame. With windows of different widths, run each size separately, or enter the average width and accept that the cripple count may move by one per window.
From the underside of the bottom plate to the top of the rough sill.
The bottom of the window's rough opening above the floor framing. The cripples under the sill fill the height from the bottom plate to the underside of the sill.
One flat plate under each window, or two.
Many framers double the sill under a wide window; advanced framing uses one. Each ply is a plate across the rough opening's width.
Door openings in the run: each gets a header and the cripples above it.
A door's opening reaches the floor, so it has no sill and no cripples below; its bottom plate is cut out after the wall stands, and is counted in the plates.
The rough opening's width between the jacks, from the door maker's sheet.
A pre-hung door's maker gives the rough opening for its frame. Doors of different widths can be run separately or entered as their average.
From the underside of the bottom plate to the underside of the headers.
The top of the rough openings, the same for doors and windows on most walls so the heads line up. The header sits on it, and any cripples above fill from the header to the top plate.
The depth your header table or engineer gives. The opening figure is only an example; the page never chooses it.
A header's depth depends on its span, the load it carries and the timber, and the span tables of your code or an engineer set it. It decides only how tall the cripples above the opening are; a header that reaches the top plate leaves none.
How many pieces make up each header, as your header table gives it.
A built-up header is two or three pieces on edge, sometimes with a spacer or insulation between; advanced framing often uses one. Each ply is one header length.
Lineal timber in the stud section
147.4 ft
Plates, sills, cripples, corner and junction studs and ladder blocks, in the stud section; the headers are a deeper section, in their own rows. The common studs, kings and jacks are on the framing stud page.
- Plates, bottom and top, along the run
- 99 ft
- Stud length between the plates
- 7.62 ft
- Extra studs at corners
- 2 studs
- Extra studs at partition junctions
- 2 studs
- Corner and junction studs, lineal
- 30.5 ft
- Ladder blocks at junctions
- 0 blocks
- Ladder blocks, lineal
- 0 ft
- Window sills, lineal
- 6 ft
- Cripples above the headers
- 6 pieces
- Cripples below the sills
- 4 pieces
- Cripples, lineal
- 11.88 ft
- Gap between a header and the top plate
- 0.15 ft
- Header pieces
- 6 pieces
- Headers, lineal (their own section)
- 19.5 ft
They open the calculator with your figures already in it
Wall Plates, Headers and Cripples Calculator (Sole Plate, Head Binder, Lintel and Corner Studs): 147 ft — shown in imperial, US market. The link sets both, so the result they see is the one on your screen.
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How this was calculated
Formula source(s)
- California Residential Code § R602.3.2 (the IRC's section of the same number): wood stud walls capped with a double top plate overlapping at corners and intersections with bearing partitions, plates 2 in nominal thick and as wide as the studs; a single top plate only where tied at corners, intersecting walls and in-line splices per Table R602.3.2, with the joists or rafters centred over the studs
- U.S. DOE Building America Solution Center, Advanced Framing: Insulated Corners — exterior wall corners are typically framed with three studs; a two-stud corner uses drywall clips or a nailing strip
- U.S. DOE Building America Solution Center, Advanced Framing: Insulated Interior/Exterior Wall Intersections (updated 2022-09-16) — the traditional T-post is two studs in the exterior wall where the interior wall meets it; ladder blocking is short 2x4 sections laid flat between the exterior studs either side of the intersection, 24 inches apart
- APA – The Engineered Wood Association, Advanced Framing construction guide, form M400 (revised 2016): stud spacing, corners, interior wall intersections, headers, openings, blocking and single top plates
- Southern Pine Inspection Bureau, "Nominal vs. Actual Lumber Sizes": dressed sizes per PS 20-20, the American Softwood Lumber Standard; a nominal 2-inch framing member dresses to 1 1/2 in
- Travis Perkins, CLS studwork timber 38 mm x 89 mm (kiln dried, regularised, C16): the UK studwork section
Inputs used
- Wall Run Length
- 33 ft
- Framed Wall Height
- 8 ft
- Stud Spacing (on centre)
- 16 in
- Plate and Stud Thickness
- 1.5 in
- Top Plate
- Double top plate (two plates)
- Corners in This Run
- 2
- Corner Framing
- Three-stud corner (one stud more than the two wall ends)
- Partitions Meeting This Run
- 1
- Backing Where a Partition Meets
- T-post: two studs in this wall
- Windows
- 2
- Window Rough Opening Width (each)
- 3 ft
- Rough Sill Height
- 3 ft
- Rough Sill
- Single sill plate
- Doors
- 1
- Door Rough Opening Width (each)
- 3 ft
- Rough Opening Head Height
- 7 ft
- Header Depth (from your header table)
- 7.25 in
- Header Plies
- 2
Intermediate steps
- Plates, bottom and top, along the run
- 99 ft
- Stud length between the plates
- 7.62 ft
- Extra studs at corners
- 2 studs
- Extra studs at partition junctions
- 2 studs
- Corner and junction studs, lineal
- 30.5 ft
- Ladder blocks at junctions
- 0 blocks
- Ladder blocks, lineal
- 0 ft
- Window sills, lineal
- 6 ft
- Cripples above the headers
- 6 pieces
- Cripples below the sills
- 4 pieces
- Cripples, lineal
- 11.88 ft
- Gap between a header and the top plate
- 0.15 ft
- Header pieces
- 6 pieces
- Headers, lineal (their own section)
- 19.5 ft
Confidence note: Plates, sills, cripples, corner and junction studs and ladder blocks, in the stud section; the headers are a deeper section, in their own rows. The common studs, kings and jacks are on the framing stud page.
What this calculation does not cover
- Nothing here sizes a member. The header's depth and plies, the number of jacks under each end and whether a single top plate is allowed come from the span tables of the code you build to, or an engineer; the page measures the timber they describe.
- The king and jack studs at each opening, and every common stud along the run, are counted on the framing stud page, not here; use the two together and nothing is counted twice.
- Each header is the rough opening plus one jack's thickness at each end. A table that calls for two jacks under an end lengthens that header by one more thickness per end.
- The cripples assume one jamb of each opening lies on a layout line. An opening set out between lines can interrupt one more stud position than this counts.
- Openings of one kind share a width: windows of several sizes, or doors of several, are entered as separate runs or as their average width, which can move the cripple count by one per opening.
- Plates are the run's length. The extra lengths where plates overlap at corners, the laps at splices and the off-cut where a stock length runs out are not added; nor is anything for bowed or split stock.
- Blocking for fire stops, for fixings and for sheathing edges, and any blocking in the stud page's bays, is not counted: only the ladder blocks at a junction.
Estimated cost — your price
This site holds no price list for this material — local prices vary too much to publish honestly. Enter your supplier's price and the result is costed with it.
Part of a bigger job
This trade is one line of a job takeoff. Run the whole job and every other trade comes back with it, off the same measurements.
Computed in your browser — nothing you enter is uploaded. Presented in US customary units and US trade terminology. Where a formula follows a published standard, that standard and its edition are cited beside it on this page; where none governs, the page says so. Local amendments override model codes — verify against the code in force where you build.
Sources checked 2026-10-10 · v1.0.0
Regulatory standards & verification citations6
- California Residential Code § R602.3.2 (the IRC's section of the same number): wood stud walls capped with a double top plate overlapping at corners and intersections with bearing partitions, plates 2 in nominal thick and as wide as the studs; a single top plate only where tied at corners, intersecting walls and in-line splices per Table R602.3.2, with the joists or rafters centred over the studs
- U.S. DOE Building America Solution Center, Advanced Framing: Insulated Corners — exterior wall corners are typically framed with three studs; a two-stud corner uses drywall clips or a nailing strip
- U.S. DOE Building America Solution Center, Advanced Framing: Insulated Interior/Exterior Wall Intersections (updated 2022-09-16) — the traditional T-post is two studs in the exterior wall where the interior wall meets it; ladder blocking is short 2x4 sections laid flat between the exterior studs either side of the intersection, 24 inches apart
- APA – The Engineered Wood Association, Advanced Framing construction guide, form M400 (revised 2016): stud spacing, corners, interior wall intersections, headers, openings, blocking and single top plates
- Southern Pine Inspection Bureau, "Nominal vs. Actual Lumber Sizes": dressed sizes per PS 20-20, the American Softwood Lumber Standard; a nominal 2-inch framing member dresses to 1 1/2 in
- Travis Perkins, CLS studwork timber 38 mm x 89 mm (kiln dried, regularised, C16): the UK studwork section
Which documents these citations point at
- International Residential Code (United States)One- and two-family dwellings and townhouses up to three storeys — structure, fire safety, energy, plumbing, mechanical and electrical in a single document.
A code or standard has force only where a jurisdiction has adopted it, usually with local amendments. This site holds no adoption data for any authority, so check what is in force with the authority where you build. Any section cited above without an edition should be checked against the edition in force where you build. What it would take to know.
Cite this page
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Tools and safety for this job
To frame a stud wall. Generic types, no brands, no prices.
Protection this work requires
- Hardwood dust is a recognised carcinogen: extract at the tool and wear a P2/N95 respirator when cutting or sanding indoors.
- Saws, grinders and breakers run above 85 dB, where hearing damage accumulates and does not recover: defenders or plugs for every cut, not just the long ones.
- Nailing, chiselling and cutting all throw fragments: glasses to EN 166 or ANSI Z87.1, and goggles rather than glasses overhead.
Show the 7 tools this job needsHide tools
Essential
Circular saw
Claw hammer
Combination or framing square
Spirit level
Tape measure
Recommended
Chalk line
Framing nailer
Also needed as materials: chalk refill, circular saw blades, framing nails, fuel cells.
what each carpentry tool is for, and the spec that decides which to buy where one does.