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Framing

Is there anything more important to building a house that lasts than framing it correctly? Ask any framer and they will tell you that, no, nothing sets the tone for a new house or an addition more emphatically than the quality of the frame. The guys that do the foundation might have grounds to disagree, but the reality is that no well-built house ever springs from a poorly executed frame. Just building a backyard garden shed? Same rules still apply.

Frames in residential construction are almost always made from wood. Whether the house is panelized, modular, or site-built, the frame is likely to be fabricated from softwood. And most houses are built on site, assembled one stud, joist and rafter at a time. The list of skills a framer needs to accomplish this isn’t short, and by the time the framers get to the roof and begin cutting compound angles in pieces of dimensional stock the ante has gone up considerably. House plans and floor plans will be drawn up by others, but the quality of the finished house is a function of the hundreds of individual connections and thousands of fasteners under the purview of the framing crew.

New materials, and more sophisticated tools, are creeping in. Engineered lumber is becoming an increasingly important component in many new homes, not only in the I-joists that many builders already use for floor joists, but also in engineered studs, headers and beams. Framers are finding more uses for light-gauge steel. Green builders are mastering techniques that make houses more energy efficient — better ways of framing corners and headers, for example, or building houses with double stud walls.

So if the craft of framing houses in many ways looks just like it did a century ago, it’s not. Want to keep up? Hang out with the pro framers who write for Fine Homebuilding.

  • Ditch the Hose

    Ditch the Hose

    Battery-powered cordless framing nailers are almost good enough to replace pneumatics—for some, they already have.

  • Successful Floors With Trusses

    Successful Floors With Trusses

    Quality at the plant is hit or miss, so a flat floor means tweaking trusses on the job.

  • Foundations for Success

    Foundations for Success

    Getting a first new home out of the ground can be a challenge, so we've assembled some pro tips for making the job go as smoothly as possible.

  • truss options

    Truss Options

    From gable-end to split trusses, there are plenty to choose from for almost any roof shape.

  • Types of Roof Trusses

    Types of Roof Trusses

    Architect Rob Thallon outlines the six most common roof truss types.

  • Introduction to Roof Trusses

    As part of an engineered system, it’s essential to understand how trussed roofs work.

  • Rafters

    Rafters vs. Trusses

    Compare the pros and cons of the two basic options for framing a roof.

  • The Loads Carried by a Roof

    The Loads Carried by a Roof

    Understand the difference between dead loads and live loads, and design and detail the roof structure to meet local weather conditions.

  • Installing the Stairs

    Installing Interior Stair Framing

    On this stair, the tops of the stringers attach to a plywood hanger nailed to the stair-chase framing.

  • Cutting the Stair Stringers

    How To Cut Stair Stringers

    First make a test stringer on 2x12 stock, then use it as a template for the rest of the stringers.

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