Written by the pros who actually do the work, these articles will help you to:
The transition from building with planks and timbers to the way we build houses today started 200 years ago with the invention of a nail-making machine, but didn't really get going until the widespread mechanization of sawmills over the next few decades. At that point, you had studs and nails, which are what we still use today. But the methods and materials have evolved continuously over the years. Balloon framing, where the studs ran uninterrupted from foundation to roof, gave way to the platform framing we use today. Studs got smaller. Plywood replaced board sheathing. Nail guns overtook hammers. And so on.
Efforts to make better use of our dwindling forests, to build houses faster and to make them safer in the wake of hurricanes, earthquakes and fires have all led to changes in the way we stitch our homes together. If you're building today, whether it's a new house or a partition wall your basement, you need to keep up with new materials and changing codes. The articles in this book will help you do that (among other things). Collected from past issues of Fine Homebuilding magazine, these articles were written by experienced builders. If they worked beside you on a job site, or lived next door, you'd ask their advice about the header over your new picture window. But good builders aren't that easy to find, which is why we got these folks to write down what they've learned. - Kevin Ireton Editor, Fine Homebuilding magazine
Table of Contents Introduction PART 1: General Framing All about Headers Squaring and Leveling Mudsills Cutting Multiples Framing with Steel for the First Time Simple Tools for Faster Framing
PART 2: Framing Floors and Ceilings Framing and Sheathing Floors Parallel-Chord Floor Trusses The Well-Framed Floor Building Coffered Ceilings Mudsills: Where the Framing Meets the Foundation Framing Cathedral Ceilings
PART 3: Framing Walls Building Rake Walls Straightening Framed Walls Balloon-Framing a Rake Wall Framing Walls Plumbing, Lining and Bracing Framed Walls Simple Curved Corners Careful Layout of Perfect Walls
Credits Index