10 rules for framing

8/6/2019 10 Rules for Framing

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Guidelines forworking efficientlyand knowing how

good is goodenough

BY LARRY HAUN

Rules for Framing

Hauling lumber fromplace to place is time-consuming and hard onyour body. Make it easieron yourself every chanceyou get, and start by hav-

ing the folks at the lum-beryard do their part.Make sure lumber arriveson the truck stacked inthe order it will be used.

You dont want to movehundreds of wall studs toget to your plate stock,for instance. And floor

joists go on top of floorsheathing, not the other way around.

When its time for the delivery, unload the build-

ing materials as close as possible to where they willbe used. Often lumber can be delivered on a boomtruck, so stacks of lumber can be placed right upon the deck or on a simple structure built flushalongside the deck.

Once the material is delivered, dont move it anymore than you need to. Cut studs, plywood, andanything else you can right on thestack. If you do have tomove wood, plan sothat you have to moveit only once.

Cut 2x4sright on the stack.

Floor framing o

Wall fin mid

Roof framinbottom

t was a coincidence that another con-tractor and I began framing housesnext door to one another on the sameday. But by the time his house was

framed, mine was shingled, wired, andplumbed. It was no coincidence that theother contractor ran out of money and had toturn the unfinished house over to the lendingcompany, while I sold mine for a profit.

Both houses were structurally sound,plumb, level, and square, but every 2x4 in theother house was cut to perfection. Every joint

looked like finish carpentry. The other con-tractor was building furniture, and I wasframing a house.

Unlike finish carpentry, framing doesnthave to look perfect or satisfy your desire tofit together two pieces of wood precisely.Whether youre building a house, an addi-tion, or a simple wall, the goals when fram-ing are strength, efficiency, and accuracy.Following the building codes and the blue-prints should take care of the strength; effi-ciency and accuracy are trickier. But during50 years of framing houses, Ive come up with

the following rules to help me do good workquickly and with a minimum of effort.

Larry Haun, author of The Very Efficient Carpenter (The Taunton Press, 1992) andHabitat for Humanity How to Build aHouse (The Taunton Press, 2002), hasbeen framing houses for more than 50years. He lives in Coos Bay, Ore.

I

10Dont move materialsany more than you have to1

74 FINE HOMEBUILDING Drawings: Christop


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Cutting the mudsill up to1 4 in. short (not long) is OK.

Rim joist cut to exact length (within 1 16 in.)

Cut top plateto exactlength.

Second top platecan be up to 1 4 in.short (not long).

No morethan 1 4 in.out of plumb in8 ft.

Use your best lumberwhere it counts3

These days, if you cull everybowed or crooked stud, youmay need to own a lumbermill to get enough wood toframe a house. How do youmake the most of the lumberthat you get?

Use the straightest stockwhere its absolutely neces-sary: where its going tomake problems for you later

on if its not straight. Walls,especially in baths andkitchens, need to be straight.Its not easy to install cabi-nets or tile on a wall thatbows in and out. Andstraight stock is necessaryat corners and roughopenings for doors.

The two top wallplates need to bestraight as well, but the

bottom plate doesnt. You can bend it right to thechalkline and nail it home. If you save your straight stockfor the top plates, youll havean easy time aligning thewalls. And every projectneeds lots of short stock forblocking; take your bowedmaterial and cut it into crip-ples, headers, and blocks.

OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2003

In other words, know your tolerances. Rafters donthave to fit like the parts of a cabinet. Nothing inframe carpentry is perfect, so the question is:Whats acceptable? You do need to get started right, and that means

the mudsills. Whether theyre going on a founda-tion or on a slab, they need to be level, straight,parallel, and square. But theres no harm done if theyre cut 1 4 in. short. A rim joist, on the otherhand, needs to be cut to the right length (within1 16 in.) before being nailed to the mudsill.

When it comes to wall framing, the bottom platealso can be 1 4 in. or so short, but the top plateneeds to be cut to exact length (again within 1 16 in.)because it establishes the buildings dimension atthe top of the walls. But the plate that sits on topof that, the cap or double plate, should be cut 1 4 in.short so that intersecting walls tie together easily.

Once youve raised the walls, how plumb orstraight is good enough? In my opinion, 1 4 in. out of plumb in 8 ft. is acceptable, and a 1 4-in. bow in a50-ft. wall wont cause harm to the structure orproblems for subcontractors. Take special care by

framing as accurately as possible in the kitchensand in the bathrooms. These rooms require moreattention partly because of their tighter tolerances,but also because the work of so many trades comestogether here.

Build a house,not furniture2


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76 FINE HOMEBUILDING

Work in alogical order4

Establish an efficient routinefor each phase of work, do itthe same way every time,and tackle each phase in itslogical order. In the long run,having standard procedureswill save time and minimizemistakes. Lets take wallframing as an example.First I snap all of the layoutlines on the floor; then I cutthe top and bottom platesand tack all of them inplace on the lines. NextI lay out the plates, de-tailing the location of every

window, door, stud, and in-tersecting wall.

I pry up the top plate andmove it about 8 ft. away fromthe bottom plate, which Ileave tacked to thedeck. I scatter studsevery 16 in. for thelength of the wall. Inail the top plate tothe studs and keep thebottom of the studs snug

against the bottom plate.This helps to keep the wallsquare, straight, and in posi-tion to be raised. I try to es-tablish a rhythm and workconsistently from one end tothe other. Once the top plate

is completely nailed, I pry upthe bottom plate and repeatthe process on the bottom.

Its worth saying that I didnt just make up these steps;they evolved over time. Rec-ognizing inefficiency is an im-portant part of framing.

2. Tack top and bottomplates in place.

3. Detail plates for studs,doors, windows, and intersecting walls.

4. Pry up top plate.Bottom plate remains.

5. Scatter studs every 16 in.for the length of wall. Nail studsto top plate.

1. Snap wall lines.

The Xs indicate king studs, and doublelines indicate cripples; the straighthorizontal line indicatesthe header.

6. Pry up bottom plateand nail to studs.


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The best way to save time when youre framing ahouse is by keeping your tape measure, your pen-cil, and your square in your nail pouch as much aspossible. I have to use a tape measure to lay outthe wall lines accurately on the deck, but after that,I cut all of the wall plates to length by cutting tothe snapped wall lines. I position the plate on theline, eyeball it, and then make the cuts at the inter-

secting chalkline.Another time-saver is to make square crosscuts on

2x4s or 2x6s without using a square. Experiencehas shown me that with a little practice, anyone canmake these square cuts by aligning the leadingedge of the saws base, which is perpendicular tothe blade, with the far side of the lumber beforemaking the cut.

Keep the othertrades in mind5

Dont measureunless you have to6

If you want to waste timeand money when framing,dont think about the electri-cal work, the plumbing, theheat ducts, the drywall, orthe finish carpentry. Whetheryou do them yourself or hiresubcontractors, these tradescome next. And unless youreworking with them in mindevery step of the way, yourframing can be in the way.

For example, when you nailon the double top plate,keep the nails located overthe studs. This tip leaves the

area between the studs freefor the electrician or plumberto drill holes without hittingyour nails.

With practicyou can maksquare cuts baligning thefront edge ofsaws base wthe far edge the board.

Trimming 1 4 in.

from a boards lengthshouldnt require measuring.Ripping (lengthwise cuts) longerpieces also can be done by eye if you usethe edge of the saws base as a guide. Trainyour eye. Itll save time cutting, and as you develop,youll also be able to straighten walls as easily byeye as with a string.

Alter joist layoutto accommodatetub drain.

Behind the lavatory, center theopen area between studs forthe medicine cabinet.

Add blocking fortowel bars and allwall cabinets.

When nailing the double topplate together, align the nailswith the studs.

Include backingfor drywall.

When installing extrawtrim, include blocking felectrical switches.

Center studsbehind tub formixing valve.


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You dont need a mathematician toknow that it takes less time to cut twoboards at once than it does to cuteach one individually.

If you have a stack of studs that allneed to be cut to the same length,align one end of the top row, snap achalkline all the way across, and cutthe studs to length right on the pile.Or you can spread them out on thefloor, shoving one end against thefloor plate, snap a chalkline, and cut

them all at once.Joists can be cut to length in asimilar way by spreading them outacross the foundation andshoving one end up againstthe rim joist on the farside. Mark them to

My first framing job was with a crew that would layout, frame, and raise one wall at a time before movingon to the next. Sometimes they would even straightenand brace the one wall before proceeding. We wasteda lot of time constantly switching gears.

If youre installing joists, roll them all into place andnail them before sheathing the floor. Snap all layoutlines on the floor before cutting any wall plates, thencut every wall plate in the house before framing. If youre cutting studs or headers and cripples, make a

cutlist for the entire project and cut them all at once.Tie all the intersecting walls together before startingto straighten and brace the walls.

Finishing before moving on is just as important whenit comes to nailing and blocking. You might betempted to skip these small jobs and do them later,but dont. Close out each part of the job as well as youcan before moving on to the next. Working in this wayhelps to maintain momentum, and it prevents tasksfrom being forgotten or overlooked.

78 FINE HOMEBUILDING

Finish one taskbefore going on to the next7

Cut multipleswhenever possible8

length, snap a line, and cut the joistsall at once.

Also, dont forget to make repetitivecuts with a radial-arm or chop/mitersaw outfitted with a stop block, whichis more accurate and faster thanmeasuring and marking oneboard at a time.

First, spread studson the plywood floor

with one end againstthe floor plate.

Then mark them andcut along the chalkline.


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I dont use a ladder much on a framing jobexcept to get to the second floor beforestairs are built. Walls can be sheathed andnailed while theyre lying flat on thedeck. Waiting until the walls areraised to nail on plywoodsheathing means you haveto work from aladder or a scaffold.Both are time-consuming.

With a little foresight, youcan do the rafter layout on adouble top plate while its still onthe floor. Otherwise, youll have tomove the ladder around the job or climb

on the walls to mark the top plate.

Building codes exist to createsafe structures. Becausebuilding inspectors are notcapable of monitoring allparts of every project, itsyour responsibility to knowthe building code and tobuild to it.

For instance, the code actu-ally specifies how to nail astud to a wall plate. You needtwo 16d nails if youre nailing

through a plate into the endof the stud, or four 8d nails if youre toenailing. When younail plywood or orientedstrand board (OSB) roof sheathing, you need a nailevery 6 in. along the edge of the sheathing and every12 in. elsewhere. And if youre using a nail gun, becareful not to overdrive thenails in the sheathing.

And a final word: If specialsituations arise, consult thebuilding inspector. He or sheis your ally, not your enemy.Get to know the buildingcode for your area. Get yourown copy of the IRC (Inter- national Residential Code)

and build well, but build effi-ciently, with the understand-ing that perfection isnt whatis required.

Work safelywhateverthe rule

Working safely should be

at the top of your prioritylist. Safety glasses, hear-ing protection, and a dustmask should be the normas should attentionaround coworkers or dangerous debris.

Safety devices andgood intentions, howeverwont help if your mindisnt on the work. Payattention, approach thework with a clear head,

listen to that inner voicethat says, This is toodangerous, and be extracareful toward the end ofthe day.

L. H.

Dont climb a ladderunless you have to9

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Attach thesheathing whilethe wall is still onthe plywood floor.

Mark rafter layout ontop of the wall plate.

Know thebuilding code

Roof sheathing is nailed every6 in. along the edges and every

12 in. elsewhere. In high-windareas, sheathing alongthe eaves, rakes, andridges is nailedevery 6 in.

The American PlywoodAssociation says theres noreduction in strength for nailsoverdriven by 1 16 in. or less. Ifmore than 20% ofthe fasteners exceed1 8 in., add one nailfor each twooverdriven nails.

2x8 rafter

5 8 -in. sheathing

10 rules for framing

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