The Art Of Framing

The Art Of Framing

When it comes to framing most would tell you that it is not that complicated to learn and do ,well maybe but most often it is one of the hardest trades to do .

There are thousand of people out there working in the trade but most often as is the case many are just not that good .

It is not their fault in most cases they just have not been instructed properly , as with most guys in this trade they find them self needing a job and there are thousands of framers out there always needing guys.

This is how it starts the blind leading the blind ,guys will get hired on start learning the trade and before you know it they them selfs think they are framers and strike out on their own with some other new guys .

It might be that yes they can manage to put up a small subdivision home with a few mistakes that alway get over looked this does not make them a framer .

What it does tell you is that many of our homes are not being built to the best standards that they could be but life goes on.

The biggest problem is that in our strive to make money we fail to see the hole picture ,there is a right way to build and most just do not posses the skills to make them a good framer .

I learned long ago that if you do thing right and have a plan you will make money and be able to produce a quality product 

The most important part to becoming a good framer is knowing how to read and interpret blue prints from the simple 3 sheet subdivision home plane to the multi page plans for large commercial jobs .

The next part to becoming a good framer is knowing the building code and having a good understanding of structural loads and how to build within them.

With these mastered now it is time to learn the mechanic of framing and this will be easy to learn now that you have the theory down pat .

Now that you are a framer it is time to set a plan on just how you will build 

this is a plan that I have used for years and it work perfect for small to large jobs . 

The first thing I do is study the prints for a few days before you start to look for problems and to make a cut list for windows and doors .

When you start I like to set up a work station for cutting and a place for mess to be placed,

Have one guy start cutting from you cut list while you get to work with the floor I will have the same guy doing the same thing every time like one on sill plates and another on beams and floor joist .

It is important to finish everything as you go the more you leave the you have to finish at the end and some time making it harder to do .

When installing joist install wall blocks and watch for toilets and bath drains as well as point load blocking.

once the floor is finished mark out all wall on the floor and start laying out wall plates , here as before one guy lays out the plates and another start laying in studs and jacks this will go fast now that you had one guy all ready cut all the parts needed for the walls.

I will start with the longest wall first and will build all walls I can before lifting them here to finish every thing like all plywood and tyvek before you lift them .

once you have lifted the exterior walls build and install interior walls making sure to install all back up and then install wall bracing and square and level all walls .

At this point everything should be done before you start the roof and once again have everyone doing a job and working together to get done .

Trusses or cut roof just make sure you completely finish all bracing and back up before plywood and make sure your sub facia is strait and level it will make the plywood go easy.

Small jobs will mean that some jobs are done by all the guys but on large job or subdivision were I will be building more than one home at a time I will have separate crews for each part like I will have one crew for floors and one on walls and one for roof so we can just keep moving along and quickly .

I know my plane works I have been able to finish large project or smaller project faster than others and with no deficiently .

Of course there is more to it than what I have mention but this will give you an outline.