What's a Stud Shoe? (And when you need them)

Added: 2026-05-12

[00:00:00]Okay, we're back here on site, and this is going to be a quick little video, but I want to explain to you what a stud shoe is and when you need it. Let's get going.

[00:00:10]Come see Stephanie Daily at Build Show Live. Scan the QR code or click the link in the description for tickets.

[00:00:24]All right. So, we are over here at Altitude Adjustment, and we just finished all of our four-way inspections. I posted a little Instagram video talking about stud shoes and when you need them. So, lots of questions came up about what is it? How is it used? When is it used? And I figured this is a great topic for a quick little video. So, we're going to walk through a few things that I keep on myself, so in my toolbox, on my truck, that I have during a four-way inspection. Now, in Utah, a four-way inspection includes electrical, mechanical, and plumbing. So, all of these things are being inspected at the same time. So, we're here in one of the guest bathrooms, and we have kind of a little tricky wall detail that's happening in here.

[00:01:10]There is a 2 by 6 structural wall that's on the stairwell, and then we have a 2 by 4 interior wall inside of the bathroom here that is purely for us to be able to run all of our mechanical, plumbing, all of our electrical wires through so that we're not really diving into the structural wall. Now, the biggest reason for this is mostly design-related, so as the architects coming through laying out whatever it is that they want on these walls, we want to make sure that we can accommodate that and not kind of disrupt our structure. So, let me grab these cabinet drawings and renderings, show you what the goal is, and then we'll talk about all the stuff that's happening in this wall and when we need those stud shoes.

[00:01:52]Okay.

[00:01:54]We got our cabinet drawings. So, you can see this cabinet layout is a little unique.

[00:02:02]So, these cabinets, uh, sinks in particular, do not have cabinetry underneath them. We actually have a stone slab that goes from the floor to the ceiling. Sinks are in the center with exposed plumbing, and then we have a little bit of cabinetry on either side. This structural bearing wall in the stair has a few kind of heavier bearing points, which are large posts, and they would conflict with where we needed to get that plumbing. So, we have two separate sinks that have been ran in this bathroom.

[00:02:33]We've got blocking because a lot of these are floating, uh, at least the portions underneath the two sinks. Here, we've got the right sink, left sink, and the plumber's going to come through, drill all his holes to be able to put the pipe in.

[00:02:49]Now, 2 by 4 walls are tricky.

[00:02:52]Code on a non-bearing wall, you can cut out 60% of the stud for pipes. On a bearing wall, it's 40%.

[00:03:01]So, when we know we have these bigger pipes that are running through the walls and they're running through a 2 by 4 wall, it's not uncommon to exceed that.

[00:03:09]So, we also have a lot of tight space that we're working with here. So, as the plumber comes through and drills his holes to be able to run all of his drain lines, we have the back side of these studs that has gotten cut out to some extent. This would also apply if we've cut out more than that 60% mark. So, on the front, you'll notice we have nail plates. That's one of the things that I'm always going to keep in the bed of my truck or in my toolbox during a four-way inspection cuz it's not uncommon to have an inspector call something out if somebody missed a nail plate where they needed one for plumbing pipe or even for some of our electrical wiring. So, nail plates are always a good idea. Two different sizes, you can get the longer ones, and they do have some shorter ones that we'll show you in another space in the house. Then, we have stud shoes. So, on the back side of these plumbing pipes, where the plumber has cut out the entire stud, we now have to bring in this stud shoe. So, it is a Simpson hardware part that is going to cup itself around the stud.

[00:04:11]It gets nailed in with very specific hardware. So, there are certain nails that are called out in the Simpson guidelines for the stud shoes. So, make sure when you're installing these, you use the correct hardware. Some inspectors will really pay attention to that or note that, um, but that's just something that anytime you're using a piece of hardware, Simpson hardware, they're going to give you a recommendation for what nails or screws you need to be using with it. So, the guys have come through and slid these stud shoes over the back side of the studs where the plumber has those cut out. Now, they have four nails on either side of the stud shoe, again, very specific nails. Slide them on, nail the plates on, you're good to go. It's a fairly simple thing to do. Um, it is much easier if the plumber is installing these as they go. Often times, we get busy, we're in a hurry, whatever it may be, and they just get missed and you have to add them later. In our case, we don't have a plumbing crew with a bunch of people, so there's not, you know, four or five guys that are here on site that are doing the plumbing. Our plumber is a one-man band. So, as he comes through and does some of this stuff, it's not uncommon for one of those to get missed, but also fairly easy to install. We just want to make sure that we're doing that before our inspection.

[00:05:30]Now, I'm going to walk you over here to the laundry room that's behind us cuz we have a great one there that we can see on both sides, and I'll really show you what that looks like up close.

[00:05:38]All right. So, back side of the laundry room plumbing wall, and we have the stud shoe that's been installed here. So, exact same thing. We've got a 2 by 4 wall that we have some plumbing running through here. Unfortunately, because of some size constraints, we would have loved to have all of the plumbing walls be 2 by 6, but it's just not possible in some locations here. So, 2 by 4 wall, plumbing pipe running through it, the back side of this stud got cut out. So, this piece that you're seeing right here is the Simpson stud shoe. So, they're 16 gauge metal.

[00:06:15]Um, you'll notice, because we couldn't see on the back side of those other two, in addition to the four nails on either side, there are four nails that go across the back. It's just really important that they're very specific nails, and in this case, you'll see the little 10 stamp on the back side of them. Really easy to install, even easier to install on walls like this where you can access both sides of the stud. Little trickier in those locations, but again, it's not an indication of a terrible plumber or someone that did a terrible job.

[00:06:47]Sometimes, it's just that we have put plumbing in a 2 by 4 wall, and ideally, it would have been in a 2 by 6, or maybe I rushed him, whatever it may be.

[00:06:57]Not uncommon, but we can put a few of these things on, solve our problem really easily. And then again, here is another example of a nail plate. And you'll see these kind of throughout the house where we're trying to protect any wire and pipe from basically a drywall screw going through it. So, check your local codes. You'll be able to find out where you need them, what you need them for because they are different in different locations, but this is easy hardware stuff to carry in your truck, and you'll use it when you do your four-way inspection. So, hopefully that helped explain it a little bit. You'll get, now that you've known what it is, you'll see you'll see them around job sites.

[00:07:35]Great thing to have, and again, easy thing to just keep in your toolbox. So, you guys can find more videos at the buildshow.com. We'll see you next time.

[00:07:44]>> [music]