What Do You Know About Framing?

One of the most exciting periods of new home construction is the framing stage, when two-dimensional plans take on three-dimensional shape. As floors, walls, and a roof rise from the ground, the owners can envision the finished home and walk through its spaces.

As a professional builder, we are always seeking better ways to build. The framing stage provides several opportunities to construct a home faster and within the budget without sacrificing quality. The latest techniques for framing actually improve a home’s structural integrity, performance, and durability. Here are just a few of the methods and materials we consider for this stage of construction:

Advanced framing. This technique removes unnecessary structural components like extra wall studs and blocking. By reducing the amount of lumber we use, we lower both costs and waste. Because it  increases quality and reduces waste, advanced framing is a tenet of sustainable green building practices around the country.

Engineered lumber. Engineered lumber is made from strands or chips of wood that are reassembled with glue, heat and pressure into large beams and I-shaped sections. Tough and stable, engineered lumber allows us to span the longer distances common in open floor plans and high ceilings. These products are frequently made from smaller and sustainably grown timber resources, instead of old-growth trees, which makes them more environmentally attractive, as well.

Panels and trusses. For decades, builders have used roof trusses (pre-made sections of the roof’s frame) to build houses better and faster. The same technology is now applied to floors and walls, with similar benefits. Factory-built and quality-controlled panels and trusses allow us to create unique spaces almost impossible with traditional framing techniques. These components also reduce our waste stream, leaving a clean job site during what can be a very messy stage of construction.

While they may not look it, homes today are built quite differently than they were even a decade ago. Nowhere is this difference more evident than in the new framing products and techniques we now have at our command. These systems allow us to build more efficient, higher quality homes, delivering a final product that performs as promised and meets the needs and expectations of our owners.