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King stud vs jack stud: what it means on an inspection

Rafter Tie editorial teamUpdated 3 min read

A jack stud is a short stud under each end of a header that carries the header's load down to the plate. A king stud is the full-height stud beside each jack stud, running from the bottom plate to the top plate. The jack stud carries the load, and the king stud steadies it and ties the wall together.

A framed wall with a window opening: short jack studs outlined in green under each end of the header, and full-height king studs outlined in orange beside them, running from the bottom plate to the top plate
Jack studs are short and carry the header. King studs are full height beside them.
Use this diagram

How to tell them apart in a framed wall

  1. Find the opening. Look for the rough opening of a door or window and the header above it.
  2. Look under the header. The short studs under each end of the header are the jack studs. They stop at the header; they do not run to the top plate.
  3. Look beside the jack studs. The full-height studs next to them, nailed to the jack studs and reaching from plate to plate, are the king studs.
  4. Check the count. The header table or the plan says how many jack studs each side needs, which grows with the span and load. Most openings have at least one king stud each side.
  5. Check the nailing. The studs are fastened together so they act as a unit. Look for the fastening required by your edition's fastening schedule rather than counting nails from memory.

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Common mix-ups

  • Jack stud versus trimmer. Trimmer is another name for a jack stud. Questions may use either word.
  • King stud versus cripple stud. Cripple studs are the short studs above a header or below a window sill. King studs run the full height. The tall ones are king studs and the short ones are not.
  • Jack stud versus header. The header is horizontal and spans the opening. The jack stud is vertical and holds the header up.
  • Posts are different. A built-up post inside a wall or at a corner is not a king stud, even if it is next to an opening.

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King and jack studs on the B1

These terms sit in wall construction, 27% of the B1. The test is usually definitional: pick which stud carries the header, or describe what supports a header's ends. The header tables in R602.7 also give the number of jack studs needed at each end, so read that count from the same row as the header size.

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Pair this page with wall header, which explains the member the jack studs carry, and cripple wall, which covers the other kind of short framing. Use the IRC chapters guide to see where wall framing sits in the book, or return to the IRC terms glossary.

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