Simple enough question. We will have 10' stick built walls in house with ICF walls for exterior. Trusses will sit on exterior walls. Should walls be poured to exactly 10' high or 9' 10 1/2" to account for top plate. (If we use top plate might use Burmon brackets.)  Possibly 10' 1/4" for a little wiggle room to get walls in under trusses....

In that situation I like to have to cut the studs to fit. Our house was exactly the same and I wanted the roof to settle on the wall as quick as possible to minimize down the road drywall cracking. If you build the wall with any gap you are going to have problems.

Posted By hevnbnd on 02 Jul 2020 11:02 PM
Simple enough question. We will have 10' stick built walls in house with ICF walls for exterior. Trusses will sit on exterior walls. Should walls be poured to exactly 10' high or 9' 10 1/2" to account for top plate. (If we use top plate might use Burmon brackets.)  Possibly 10' 1/4" for a little wiggle room to get walls in under trusses....

Additional information is needed. Are you building on a foundation wall or are you building on a slab on grade. If a foundation wall below floor is used, the answer is a bit more complex. I suggest drawing a wall section of both interior and exterior walls. The way the wood plate is place on the concrete is important. Once you get the details figured out, add the dimension of the materials in each wall to come up with a wall height. Then compare those drawings to see which will be the easiest to adjust to match the other. IMO, because of ease, I would cut the foam to match the height of pre-cut studs and plates, less 1.5" so that the wood bearing on the concrete will be the same elevation of the top plate on the interior walls. "Generally", labor is the issue when it comes to choosing stud length. It saves labor to purchase pre-cut studs. Pre-cut studs come about 3.5" shorter than the intended ceiling height (116 5/8"stud for an 10' ceiling height). This pre-cut length varies, depending on location, so get that information from your supplier. When the dimensions of a pre-cut stud, a bottom plate, and 2 top plates are added together it will equal about 1.5" more than an even foot dimension. That allows for floor material thickness and ceiling material thickness, to get approximately an even foot dimension from finish floor to finish ceiling.

One other thing I should mention; the bottom cord of some trusses are cambered upward. At first, as the roof structure is framed the trusses most likely will not touch some interior walls. This is normal. The upward camber becomes less and less as load is applied to them. As the roof load is applied the bottom truss cord is put in tension, which helps the top cords support the load in compression. This allows transfer of roof load to the exterior bearing walls.
If you cut studs to fit prior to roof load being applied to the trusses, then those interior walls become load bearing. And, it is possible the roof trusses may not perform in the way they are designed and/or it could damage the trusses. If you plan to do this, it is important to discuss it with the truss design engineer beforehand.

Sorry for the late reply. I did not get any notifications post had been made...

House is on a slab on grade.