Why isn the aluminum framing in the walls welded?
We choose to “screw and clip” our roof, floor and wall framing instead of welding for several different reasons. At every joint there are four screws holding a gusseted bracket forming a very strong right angle. This supports the stud by adding the extra bracket and four contact points almost 1 1/2 inches up the stud. Additionally, behind every bracket is a liberal amount of “sikaflex” adhesive, preventing any slippage in the bracket. In contrast, welding only creates two points of contact, at the very bottom of the stud, and instead of adding metal for bracing actually weakens the metal while forming the weld. Welding also by its nature is an extremely hard and brittle union while screwing and clipping allows the sidewall to flex, similar to airplane or skyscraper construction.
