are these acceptable in new home?

[princeton]

I'm watching the construction of my first house, and I am very worried about the quality. Just after they start framing, it started raining ten days ago and many wood frame members are soaked in water for about a week.
The rain stopped yesterday. Today I went to check my home and find numerous cracks in the frame, some due to bad materials, some due to bad workmanship, some due to water damage (I guess). Is it OK to have cracks in load bearing studs, girders, rims, joints, etc?

[Rich]

This is such a difficult question to answer. I would love to say that framing members should be graded structural select - but #2 or btr is just fine. I would also like to say that the checking in the wood frame doesn't matter - but I honestly can't say that because I have no idea. Without taking each stud out of the wall and stress testing it nobody will ever know.
It's unlikely that the water and checking will have an overall negative effect on your home. Thousands of homes a year are built in the rain with no adverse affects to the structure.
I would suggest getting an engineer to drive by and see what they think.

[mjpliv]

See if the lumber is stamped as being dry (in Canada the stamps would be SD (Surface Dry) and KD (Kiln Dry) ) . Perhaps Rich can post the grade stamp info for the States.

When a wood member has be dried using either method, the cell structure changes. It cannot readily absorb moisture except on the surface. Any of the veritcal components (ie - wall studs) should suffer no ill effects from exposure to rain. The usual concern would be for the sheathing materials and plates but in most cases these would dry out without distorting.

Most cracking or checking (thats when you see some areas of grain open up and curl back - usually radiating around a knot) should not compromise the structure. Wood is a natural product full of flaws to begin with. You will find many cracks running the length of your studs but you need only be concerned about cracks running horizontally or diagonally accross the stud face.

[Rich]

The states have pretty much the same ratings - SD and KD. The SD and KD stamps usually only appear on stress-graded lumber though. There are stress-graded, nonstress-graded, etc - Structural Select, #1, #2, #3, etc.
Here's a good listing of all the different grades
http://www.woodbin.com/ref/wood/softwood_grades.htm

[princeton]

Thank Rich and mjpliv for the reply. I feel relieved to know that any of the veritcal components (ie - wall studs) should suffer no ill effects from exposure to rain. How about Rim joints sitting on basement concrete walls? My two story home has set up walls but no ceiling is put on. House wrap has attached around walls but first floor frame is not covered by house wrap. (I am really angry for this, I think house wrap should cover the wood floor frame, am I right?) It started raining two weeks ago, sometimes the rain was very heavy. Because there is no ceiling, all woods got very wet. Two weekly ago I remember The Rim joints sitting on concrete wall were beatiful, now many has long horizonal crack. I think the whole house load will be on these rims and then transfered to concrete walls, am I right? If so, will cracked rims cause any unbalance load distribution?

[mjpliv]

You are correct, the house wrap should extend over the rim joist (that is why it is manufactured in 9' rolls).

I would assume that the rim joists are elevated off of the concrete by a mud sill. Is this the case?

[princeton]

Yes, they are on the mud sill.

Here is picture.

[mjpliv]

I wouldn't be concerned about your rims. I can see on of the cracks you are taling about in the picture you uploaded. It looks like a surface crack only and is not uncommon, especially in the larger cross sections of lumber.

However, do insist that the house wrap be extended to the bottom extents of the framing materials.