Your Guide To The Basics Of House Framing

For many people, buying a house is one of the most significant steps in their lives. It’s an important part of building their future and settling down.

Other people want to build their houses from the ground up. To them, there’s no point living in a place that someone else has owned. They’d rather build a space that exactly meets their needs.

If you’re leaning towards building your own home, you’ll need to know how to frame a house. The basics of house framing aren’t hard to understand, but they’re essential if you want to build a sturdy dream home that will last for years to come.

The frame is essentially the house’s skeleton — it holds up all the wall coverings and outer plaster and creates the general structure of your home. House framing relies on a sturdy foundation and proper site prep before framing can begin.

The most common material used for framing houses is wood. The reason for this is because wood is often more affordable than other materials like steel, concrete, and brick. Plus, it’s easy to find. You can frame a house in materials besides wood, but your framing costs may go up depending on what you choose.

This framing method was popular from the 1800s to the mid-1900s. Builders used balloon framing to build two-story houses. It was a cheap and efficient way to get homes built quickly.

In balloon framing, long pieces of wood are nailed to the foundation of the house to form the wall studs. These studs extend up to the second story of the house. Due to its simplicity, this was a quick method for house framing.

However, balloon framing fell out of fashion when the tall trees used to create these extra-long studs became harder to find.

Balloon framing also comes with a higher risk of fire. Because studs run all the way from the ground up to the house’s second story, fire can spread more quickly.

In some cases, you might need to use balloon framing for a specific area of your home. Always check with your contractor or another professional to see if this is the best house framing method for your needs.

After balloon framing became harder to accomplish, platform framing took over as the most common way to frame a house. And it’s still the most common type of framing today.

Like balloon framing, platform framing uses wood for building. However, the difference is that platform framing uses short pieces of lumber. Platform framing also allows each story of the house to be built individually.

Also, because platform framing uses shorter lumber pieces, fires won’t spread as quickly, and it tends to be more affordable because you end up using less wood to construct the frame.

One of the oldest house framing methods, timber framing, is still used for some builds today. This method is sometimes also called “post-and-beam construction” and has been around for centuries.

Timber framing was common prior to the industrial revolution and doesn’t rely on nails or screws to hold the frame together. Instead, a timber frame is made of interlocking posts and beams. This is accomplished through complex and detailed mortise and tenon joinery.

If you want to build a timber frame house, be prepared to spend top dollar. Timber framing is expensive because you need very specific pieces of wood to create the posts and beams, which may be harder to come by.

You’ll also need to hire a highly skilled carpenter to ensure your posts and beams fit together properly. Timber framing is one of the sturdiest house framing methods, but the high cost can put people off.

Now that you know the basics of house framing, it’s time to start planning your build. If you need some help planning out building a new house, My Site Plan can help. At My Site Plan, we specialize in creating site plans to help you prepare for your home building and renovation projects. We can help you draft a site plan of your property or a provisional floor plan to help you prepare to frame your house.

Ready to start building the home of your dreams? Get in touch with My Site Plan to get started.