All House Framing EXPLAINED...In Just 12 MINUTES! (House Construction/Framing Members)

so everyone knows what framing is it's the assembled lumber that gives support and shape to a house they look at a partially built house see that tangle of wood and say yeah that's the framing but most people's knowledge of framing stops right there they couldn't name many of the individual components that they're seeing or tell you what those pieces are for i've always believed that this puts them at a disadvantage in contracting situations pretty much every remodel and new build is going to require new framing and extensive repairs are also going to involve framing as you deal with issues like rot and decay in these situations you want to be able to understand what your contractor is telling you and the first step is understanding terminology so in this video i'm going to quickly run you through what all those individual framing members in a house are called we're going to work our way from the bottom up going from the foundation to the roof and along the way i'll even explain a bit about what these members do and that's coming up next on the honest carpenter show okay let's get down to foundation level before framers show up masons have either built up brick and block walls or poured concrete foundations in either case they give us a level base to build off of in most houses the first framing member we install is the mud sill or just the sill this little known piece provides a stable layer for all the framing above it to rest on if untreated wood sits on masonry it can rot because masonry always has a moisture content so the muzzle is made of treated lumber that isn't prone to rot so it acts as a buffer between damp masonry and all the dry framing above it the mud sill runs the entire perimeter of the foundation and is almost always tied down with anchor bolts which prevent the house from lifting up when strong winds blow the next layer of framing is typically the joists joists create the floor structure of a house their long pieces of lumber turn on their edge which are then supported at various points from below joists span open space acting as sort of a bridge across long distances they give us something to walk on in the form of floors and something to hold weight above our heads in the form of ceilings joists used to be just dimensional lumber like wide flat pieces of solid wood but in recent years engineered lumber has partially replaced them eye joists are modified eye beams built out of long pieces of strand board and solid lumber caps or flanges eye joists are cheap stable and very versatile and they often contain pre-cut knockouts that you can run utilities through like ducts and wiring this makes later construction phases both easier and cheaper you still see a lot of dimensional lumber on job sites especially in outdoor structures like decks the outermost joist in a floor or deck is often called the rim joist or the band depending on application other joists pair up with it or run into it sometimes joists are even supported by another horizontal framing member called girders or beams beams tend to be bigger stronger pieces of lumber that act as a spine for joyce to sit on they're sort of like super joists for other framing members sometimes joyce even runs straight into them and are held on with hardware girders and beams are sometimes made of dimensional lumber grouped together or more commonly they're made from lvls laminated veneer lumber a type of engineered plywood that is very strong and comes in really long pieces so that they can bridge longer spans now girders and beams also need something to sit on for support sometimes they rest on masonry peers like in a foundation other times they rest on columns or posts these words column posts are sort of catch-all terms for a vertical support sometimes they're made of hollow steel like this one i installed beneath that overspan girder in a garage other times they're made of wood like the very common porch post i installed these six by sixes beneath an under supported deck and on porches you'll see wrapped columns holding up the beams that support the roof and ceiling sometimes these columns are very decorative but they're still structural but all together columns and posts transfer loads from a beam or girder down to somewhere lower in the foundation or another support alright so with all that structure in place we can move up from the lowest parts of the house after the joists have created the floor structure they get covered with subfloor subfloor is sheets of plywood or strand board with tongue and groove edges pieces sort of interlock to create a stable surface on top of the joists and this covers the full perimeter of the floor plan right out to the edge of the structure everything above this point sits on the subfloor and that includes the walls themselves as everyone knows framed walls are built with studs this word is of course an endless source of amusement but stud is really just a blanket term for pieces of lumber stood up on their ends to create the vertical structure of our homes they're most often in the two by four or two by six dimensions studs can stand individually spaced out either 16 or 24 inches center to center or they can be fastened together in groups known as stud packs these packs sort of act as makeshift columns in our walls they carry heavy point loads from somewhere above and transfer that weight down to a safe point below but studs never actually touch the subfloor instead they sit on another horizontal piece of wood known as a plate a plate is basically just a stud laid down on its back it's virtually identical to a mud sill except that it's not treated because it's not in contact with wet masonry this is just kiln dried 2x4 or 2x6 so you have a bottom plate beneath the wall and you have top plates at the top of the wall top plates are typically doubled up for strength we call them double plates adding top and bottom plates to vertical studs lets us build our walls laying down and then stand them up into place it turns the whole wall into a rigid unit that acts as one piece studs and plates are virtually continuous in a wall except where they are interrupted by doors and windows these openings get special framing and that framing has a complex system of names and functions for instance you've probably seen these pieces of solid wood facing outward above an opening these pieces are called headers and they're very important doors and windows create hollow space in a wall which means that studs aren't there to support weight from above so the headers transfer the weight that would be in that space out to the edges of the opening really they act the same way that a beam or girder does to carry weight over a span they're like a bridge that creates a safe hall of space for the door or window to sit inside sometimes headers are also made up of lvls over longer spans like garage doors where they need to bear more weight the ends of the headers sit on pieces called trimmer studs or jack studs then they're enclosed by taller pieces called king studs which extend all the way up to the plate empty spaces above a door or below a window are then filled with what are known as studs just little short pieces that provide support and create nailing surface for drywall and cladding the bottom horizontal piece in the window opening is called a rough sill and the entire framed opening of a door or window is known as the rough opening again all this structure bears the weight around these openings so that doors and windows don't have to there should essentially never be any weight on a door window they just sit in a hollow opening and do their job you'll also see little horizontal sections of wood in framed walls these pieces are known as blocking or in some countries nogging blocking serves many different purposes in tall walls it prevents studs from bowing or twisting in some cases it provides a fire block which prevents fire from traveling up the stud bay like a flu this slows the fire down so it can't leap between floors and in places like bathrooms and kitchens blocking is installed turned up on its edge this provides solid wood to mount towel racks cabinets and other fixtures too you really see various types of blocking all throughout a house that covers much of what you'll see in a single bottom floor so moving up we come to staircases stairs used to be built entirely from notched lumber known as stringers in some cases especially outdoors they still are built this way but many modern interior staircases are built in factories a single enclosed units these units are ordered beforehand based on accurate measurements and pretty much just get installed like a ramp the vertical pieces of staircases are called risers and the horizontal pieces are called treads they may be attached to frame walls at either side for extra support or rest on smaller frame knee walls beneath them knee walls are just short wall sections typically under three feet sometimes they support something other times they're free standing i'll mention here that the word header is also used to describe a piece of framing that opens up a hole in a floor or ceiling just like a small girder a ceiling header carries the weight of several joists by transferring their load out to other parallel joists this lets you create openings for pull down attic stairs dormers staircases you name it so that's a second definition for headers and it serves a slightly different function these headers are installed in horizontal floors as opposed to vertical walls okay continuing upward higher floors in the house are built much like the first floor joists sit on the top plate of the wall below subfloor covers those joists and the next frame wall sits directly on that subfloor it's pretty much exactly the same floor to floor taller houses may require more beefed up framing especially on the bottom floor but terminology wise words are going to have the same meaning everywhere things only get different again when you finally get to the roof roof framing is a complex topic because things stop moving in two dimensions and they start converging in three dimensions in traditional framing roofs are made up of rafters rafters are a lot like floor joists except they're set diagonally at a fixed pitch at the bottom rafters sometimes sit on the top plate of the wall below other times they sit on yet another floor structure in the attic rafters typically travel upward and converge at a ridge board this is a fairly tall board that gets sandwiched between rafter peaks in houses with gables the ridge board runs all the way out to the exterior wall and sometimes beyond in houses with contoured roofs the framing gets more complicated to create an outside corner a hip rafter descends from the ridge to the corner of a wall to create an inside corner a valley rafter does the same thing so these roof contours are simply called hips and valleys shorter rafters that meet a hip or valley are called jack rafters the rafters that go all the way to the ridge are called common rafters on gable roofs with an overhang or in eaves the suspended rafter hanging out in the open air is called the barge rafter down at the lower point the projecting end of the rafter is called a rafter tail these are usually tied together with a sub fascia and in houses that will have an enclosed soffit the little backstrap piece of framing is sometimes called the lookout now that's a traditional roof but many newer homes and smaller commercial buildings aren't necessarily built this way anymore instead they're built with something called roof trusses a roof truss is an engineered pre-assembled unit that creates the shape and structure of a roof in truss roofs multiple trusses are installed side by side like rafters and brace together until the roof sheathing can go on trusses are really kind of miraculous they're made of much skinnier shorter pieces of lumber pinned together with spiky metal plates all together they create sort of a web and that web is very strong in fact it's so strong that most truss roofs don't even need load-bearing walls beneath them they act like a big girder spanning from one outer wall to another trusses are also sometimes used for floor systems they're very strong they speed up construction and they cut down on the amount of large dimensional lumber that we used to need to build houses so you've got traditional roofs with rafters or you've got trusses kind of two different worlds but after all this framing is in place our structure is essentially created and yet it's still not stable both the walls and the roof will still need to get sheeted or sheathed sheathing is a layer of plywood or strand board that covers the entire framing system from the outside like a skin it's the layer beneath the house wrap and the siding sheathing is very important and it often does more than just close the house in it also prevents the house from falling over but that's a topic for another time because it's complicated and it deserves at least one video of its own this video is about framing and you've just heard about many if not all of the important framing members in a house so what did you think did you learn something new from all this terminology or are you an experienced builder with something to add or even correct let me hear about down the comments i'm always up for getting outside advice if you get a chance check us out at the honestcarpenter.com where we consult with homeowners and property investors nationwide about a range of important issues as always thanks for watching be sure to check back in for more videos coming up soon and please consider subscribing and hitting that little bell button to turn on notifications that way you'll know the moment we post something i'm ethan james with the honestcarpenter.com i'll see you next time [Music]

Channel: The Honest Carpenter

Views: 1,170,588

Rating: 4.9731545 out of 5

Keywords: house framing, house framing basics, house framing construction, house framing tricks, stud framing layout, stud framing basics, wood framing, framing a house, roof system, wooden framing house construction, building a house, wall framing basics, wood framing construction, wood framing basics, the honest carpenter, studs, roof rafters, roof rafters vs trusses, truss roof, i-joists, sill plate, mudsill, floor joists, framing blocking, wall framing layout, girder, beam, column

Id: 3fP0LZMEV5w

Length: 12min 31sec (751 seconds)

Published: Sat Feb 20 2021

Reddit Comments

[u/Superb_Raccoon]

I want my 12 minutes back.