Techniques for Framing a House

Pre-Assembled Systems

• Most of today's residential roof construction is done with roof truss systems that are built in a workshop and brought to the construction site when the wall framing has been completed. While this can be done with most structures, and can be done efficiently, there are still reasons and situations you may use conventional roof cutting techniques with ridge runners and hip rafters (where needed) instead.

Wall and Structure Framing

• There are building codes in every state that determine how structures are to be built. The standard rules always apply and mandate that wall studs are 16 inches apart, from center to center, for residential construction, and anywhere up to 24 inches apart in smaller utility structures.

Headers

• Any wall framing system that has a door or window in its span will also have a header, which is built into the structure to take the weight off of the top of the opening. This load-bearing element is a requirement of any construction and is included in many state codes. The variable is the required thickness of the header with the distance of the header's span, requiring a thicker support for longer spans such as sliding patio doors or extended picture or bay windows.

Corner Framing Methods

• The corners of the structure are another very important element of construction, because they support the bulk of the building's weight and the weight of the roof under snow load. There are two ways to construct these corners: the California corner, which is simply an L-shaped assembly, butting one stud's edge up against the broad side of another, and the conventional, or Old World, method, which involves sandwiching studs until the desired corner thickness is reached. However simple the construction method you use is, you have to ensure that it's strong enough to support the weight of your building.