Most framers install thousands of
wooden studs and built-up posts every
year without ever questioning their
ability to carry vertical loads.
Conventional job-site wisdom says
that, in most cases, 2x4s are plenty
strong and that 2x6s, used primarily
for the extra room they give for insulation,
are overkill — even on 24-inch
centers.
For the most part, this conventional
wisdom is right. Studs and columns
rarely fail from compression — that is,
being crushed under load. But there
are situations where extra wall height
or greater than normal loading might
cause a stud or a built-up post to fail by
buckling, or suddenly bowing out to
one side.
In theory, a slender column made
from elastic material such as wood