Table of Contents
Why Does Construction Framing Need Steel Framing Clips?
Advantages of Clips for Various Framing Systems
Bridge Clips
Angle Clips
Truss Ties (including Hurricane Clips)
Headers
Hold Downs
Choosing Clips for Your Project
Why Does Construction Framing Need Steel Framing Clips?
Modern construction framing increasingly relies on steel clips due to their versatility, strength, and reliability. Steel clips offer enhanced structural support and stability, making them critical tools in various framing systems like cold-formed steel (CFS), conventional wood framing, and cross-laminated timber (CLT) framing. These clips help to create robust connections that are essential for meeting stringent building codes and ensuring safety in both residential and commercial structures.
Advantages of Clips for Various Framing Systems
Cold-Formed Steel (CFS) Framing: CFS is known for its strength, durability, and lightweight properties, making it ideal for a wide variety of commercial and residential framing applications. Cold Formed Steel is what we specialize in at US Frame Factory, where we manufacture metal stud and track components, wall panels, and truss assemblies. Steel clips in CFS are used to connect studs, joists, and other framing members, enhancing the structural integrity and load-bearing capacity of the overall structural assembly. Further, clips are essential for truss building and hanging exterior curtain walls that allow movement of the primary structure.
Conventional 2x4 Framing: In traditional wood framing, steel clips provide additional support at critical joints, such as where beams meet posts or at intersections of walls and floors. This ensures stability and resistance to lateral forces, which is particularly important in areas prone to seismic activity. Bent steel hurricane clips are also critical for creating continuous load paths from roof system to foundation in high wind and hurricane prone areas.
Cross-Laminated Timber (CLT) Framing: CLT is an increasingly popular framing material in sustainable construction. Steel clips are used to secure CLT panels together, ensuring that the large, prefabricated sections are properly aligned and connected. These connections enhance the overall stability and load distribution of the structure. Steel clips can also be used in countless other applications to tie various timber components together in stable and robust connections.
Bridge Clips
Bridge clips are connectors used to join bridging channels like Cold Rolled Channel (CRC) and U Channel to structural members, ensuring lateral stability of wall panels and preventing buckling of studs or joists. In addition to increased rigidity, lateral bracing can also help with load distribution. Due to the specific stamped geometry and pre-punched holes in many bridge clips, installation is quick and easy, often with the clip simply twisted into place and secured with a few key fasteners.
Angle Clips
Angle clips are L-shaped connectors used to provide support at corners and intersections in framing assemblies. Angle clips are frequently used to connect wall studs to floor joists or roof trusses, providing additional support and load transfer capabilities. In wood framing, angle clips help secure beams to posts or wall plates, enhancing the stability of the structure at critical points. Angle clips are highly versatile for many jobs, ranging from simple joint reinforcement to the construction of fully engineered truss assemblies.
Truss Ties (including Hurricane Clips)
Truss ties are connectors used to secure trusses to walls or other trusses, ensuring proper alignment and load distribution. There are also clips that serve as truss spacers (see image above), providing both lateral bracing and proper spacing between different truss members. In both steel framing and wood framing, steel ties help anchor the trusses to the top plates of walls and to each other, thereby providing resistance to wind uplift and seismic forces.
Headers
Headers are structural elements placed above openings like doors and windows to transfer loads from above to the surrounding framing. Header clips offer various attachment styles for securing these structural members to adjoining studs. With the right combination of header design and clips, the overall wall assembly can be strengthened and stiffened. These clips are commonly used in both CFS and wood framing.
Hold Downs
Hold downs are heavy duty connectors used at the base of wall panels to anchor the panels to the foundation, providing resistance to uplift and lateral forces. Hold downs are critical for securing shear walls and other structural elements to the foundation, ensuring the stability of the building under various loads. Holddowns are also useful for floor-to-floor connections to maintain continuous loadpaths from roof to foundation. See our article about holdowns for more information.
Choosing Clips for Your Project
Steel clips play a vital role in modern construction framing by providing strong, reliable connections that enhance the overall stability and performance of buildings. Their use across various materials and systems demonstrates their versatility and essential function in contemporary construction practices. In addition to the common clip types outlined above, there are many different specialized clips that help facilitate the rapid and reliable construction of building structures. Check out our Clips Store for all of your framing accessory needs. Don't see what you need, or have questions about your specific application? Contact us and let us know how we can help.