The structural skeleton of a house is the assembly of the walls, floors, and roof. After the foundation is up, the process of framing the floor begins. The floor assembly consists of joists and subfloor. Where there are openings on floors for stairs, additional members such as headers, trimmers and tail joist must be installed to support the load on the floor. Blocks are put in between the joists to keep them from twisting as well as to help distribute the load onto the other joists. Typically in residential construction, lumber, engineered I-joist or floor joists are used.
After the floor, the wall components are put together. The wall assembly consists of plates, studs, lintels, blocks and sheathing. The bottom and top plates are horizontal members which the studs are nailed onto and the cap plates tie the corners of the building together. The studs, typically spaced 12”, 16” or 24” on centre are the vertical supports that carry and transfer the load onto the foundation. Any openings such as windows and doors are supported by the lintels which carry and transfer the load onto the jack and king studs. Blocks are also installed and serve the same purpose as the joist blocks. The sheathing (typically plywood or OSB board) is the exterior component that serves as a nailing surface for the exterior finish, adds rigidity and lateral strength as well as to ensure the wall is square.
When all the wall has been installed, braced and straightened, the roof trusses goes on next. In today’s construction, roof trusses are built in a shop to the specification of the building and then brought in to site for installation. Roof trusses are installed at 24” on centre. The use of machines such as a crane is beneficial in lifting the trusses up, especially on a building that has two or more storeys. After all the trusses are on, sheathing is then installed which serves the same purpose as the sheathing on the wall.
The process mentioned above is overly simplified for you. Generally speaking, this is the process of building the frame of a house. There are codes involving the location of joist blocking or the minimum thickness of sheathing used, or the maximum span of 3-2×10 lintels used, or the maximum rise (ie step up) of a set of stairs. The list goes on and the book itself is about two inches thick. One must be able to navigate through this book to ensure that the building is structurally sound.
So what are my tips for someone who wants to frame a shed or something small to start? Familiarize yourself with all of the components mentioned above. Bring in your town’s building inspector to help guide you through the building process and to know what they are looking for when they are inspecting your work and ask as many questions as possible. When you’re ready, assemble the walls on the ground. It’s always easier to work on the ground while it is within reach than having to put up and constantly move ladders to get to places. Also, get help. Framing is a job for a team. Trust me, it’s not that easy to stand a wall up on your own or bring sheathing up the roof. Most importantly, pay attention and work safely.
The good news is that here at Intentionally Tiny, we are over the learning curve of building. With our over 10 years of experience in construction we know the process of building like the back of our hands so you don’t have to spend hundreds of hours sifting through YouTube videos.
