Like most aspects of construction, there are many ways to go about framing a house. We’ve all seen those
Engineered I-beams are put in place to avoid shrinking, swelling, cupping and crowning.
neighborhoods that seem to pop up overnight from ground to dozens of house-shaped objects in what seems to be a matter of days. That’s certainly one way to do it. But that’s not how we do it.
The materials matter
For a larger single-family home like the Balser’s, we have the materials delivered and stacked on the lot. The framing is then done piece-by-piece, floor-by-floor. For multi-family developments, such as townhomes, we typically use pre-constructed panels in framing.
Footer dranins are installed to move water away from the foundation of the home.
The reason we say that materials matter is simply because there are a lot more options on the market these days than there used to be. Still the most popular is dimensional lumber (2x8s or 2x10s). However, this type of lumber is quite a bit different than it was even 30 years ago because it’s typically made with new growth trees and isn’t dried in the same way it used to be.
Increasing in popularity is engineered lumber, which is manufactured by bonding together wood strands, veneers, lumber or other forms of wood fiber to produce a larger and integral composite unit that is stronger and stiffer than the sum of its parts. This is what we use for I-beams and subflooring to avoid shrinking, swelling, cupping or crowning.
Building a strong home
Many builders use dimensional lumber for these tasks on the first floor and then engineered wood
Once the first floor is framed, we make sure every wall and corner is true before moving up.
on upper floors of a home due to the difficulty in repairing subfloor and joist issues in those locations. We use it on every level of your home. Then we frame it up and build the interior walls.
Once the first level of a home is completely framed, we make sure every wall and corner is true before moving on to the upper levels. Each floor of the home is built exactly as the first through the same process and using the same materials. We then add engineered trusses from Universal Forest Products, which are dried to specification.
Does it take a little longer to frame a house this way? Sure it does. But when it’s all said and done, we have confidence that the framed out structure will provide strong and lasting support to your home for years to come. Plus, no one will be able to accuse your house of going up overnight.
For more photos of the Balser’s home in Townsend during the construction process, please visit our Flickr page by clicking here.