Light Wood Framing

Denition
Light wood frame construction is a building technique based around standardized small dimension lumber, installed in an intermittent manner to which bracing or sheathing materials are attached to provide structural resistance. Interior and exterior materials are then attached to the basic structure to provide weather resistance and durable nishes. This form of construction has become the dominant construction method for small scale projects in North America and a few other areas of the world because of its economy and versatility.

Light wood framing development

Two developments in the late 18th century had a major impact on the popularity and propagation of light wood framing systems in North America: 1) Sawing techniques 2) Fastening systems

Sawing techniques
Prior to that time, sawing of lumber was essentially done by hand very labour intensive and lacking in precision.

Sawing techniques - circular saw

The circular saw was invented in England in about 1780, and nally permitted the ecient and quick cutting of large timber into usable sized members for light wood framing.

Sawing techniques - circular saw

Initially powered by water hence the term sawmill saws operated by steam, gas & oil, and later electricity were soon developed.

Sawing techniques - band saw

The band saw, invented in about 1807 in the United States, permitted the processing of much larger timber.

The depth of lumber that the circular saw is able to cut is of course limited to about one half the saws diameter.

Sawing techniques - band saw

Fastening systems
Prior to about the late 18th century, all nails were hand-forged, and consequently very expensive to produce. In fact, buildings were burnt down to recover nails pulling the nails would have damaged them. The nails usually were square in crosssection and tapered in all directions as a result of the forging process.

Fastening systems
Around about 1780, a more automated method was developed, where nails were cut or sheared from a sheet of iron (and later steel). The nails produced were more consistent in shape, though the process was still quite labour intensive. They were rectangular in section, but two sides were parallel, determined by the thickness of the sheet from which they were sheared.

Fastening systems
It was not until about 1890 that nails were produced from round wires as they are today, hence the term wire-cut nails, at a fraction of the cost.

Permissible to build under Part 9 of the National Building Code, provided the following conditions are met:
Building is used for one of the following uses: residential business & personal services mercantile medium & low hazard industrial

Building is 3 storeys or less in building height Building is 600 square meters or less in building area (footprint)

When can we use light-wood framing?

Light Wood Framing Techniques

Light Wood Framing Techniques

North American light wood framing is based on the principle of redundancy. Small members placed at regular intervals transfer loads down to the foundations, and are distributed regularly enough to assure that none of the individual members become over-stressed. There is adequate duplication of members to accommodate a variety of congurations if some members need to be removed, the loads will automatically be re-routed through adjacent members. As long as some basic rules are followed, detailed structural calculations are not usually necessary, which makes this system so adaptable

Wood species used in light wood framing

usually softwoods

Wood grades & uses

Standard wood dimensions

Wood members used in North American light wood construction are typically referred to as boards if nominally less than 1 thick, and dimension lumber if greater than 1 thick. The commonly available sizes are as follows for framing materials. Their units are nominally based on the rough-sawn dimensions of the wood in inches. 1x2 1x4 1x6 1x8 2x2 2x3 2x4 2x6 2x8 2 x 10 2 x 12

4x4 6x6 8x8

Rough sawn lumber

2" [ 51mm ] 2" [ 51mm ] 2" [ 51mm ] 2" [ 51mm ]

Rough sawn lumber vs. planed lumber

1 1/2" [ 38mm ] 1 1/2" [ 38mm ] 1 1/2" [ 38mm ] 1 1/2" [ 38mm ]

[ 152mm ]

[ 203mm ]

5 1/2" [ 140mm ]

6"

[ 184mm ]

7 1/4"

8"

[ 254mm ]

[ 235mm ]

9 1/4"

10"

[ 305mm ]

2x6
2" [ 51mm ] 2" [ 51mm ]

2x6
1 1/2" [ 38mm ]

2x8
2" [ 51mm ]

2x8
1 1/2" [ 38mm ] 1 1/2" [ 38mm ]
1 1/2" [ 38mm ]

2 x 10
2 1/2" [ 64mm ]

2 x 10 2 x 12

[ 102mm ]

[ 76mm ]

2x4

2x3

[ 51mm ]

2 x 12 2x2

3"

2"

[ 89mm ]

3 1/2"

4"

2x4

2x3

2x2

[ 286mm ]

11 1/4"

12"

Light Wood Framing Techniques

Platform framing

Balloon framing

Balloon frame construction

Light Wood Framing Techniques

Platform framing

Platform frame construction

Balloon framing

Platform frame construction

Floor framing

Floor framing

Floor framing

Floor framing

Floor framing

Floor framing

Joists on top of foundation wall

Joists on top of foundation wall

Joists on top of foundation wall

Joists on ledge in foundation wall

Joists on ledge in foundation wall

Framing around openings

Joists on ledge in foundation wall

Framing around openings

Cantilevered framing

joist stability

cross-bracing & bridging

solid bridging

cross bracing

Platform framing

Wall framing

Wall framing

Wall framing

Wall framing

framing inspector

Wall framing terminology

lintels

Interior wall lintels

Exterior wall lintels

Garage door lintel

Lintel construction

Roof slope designation

There are 3 common ways of designating the slope of a roof: 1) Pitch 2) Percent 3) Angle

Roof framing

Roof slope designation

1) Pitch This is probably the most common designation for roof slopes, indicated by a ratio of the vertical rise of the roof over the horizontal run. It can be specied in several ways: using a value of one for the vertical rise, such as 1:4 as the vertical rise in inches for a given foot of horizontal run such as 3 inches/foot or as the vertical rise per 12 inches of horizontal run, such as 3 in 12 or 3/12.

Roof slope designation

2) Percent This designation is also actually the rise over the run, but indicated as a percentage, such as 25%.

Roof slope designation

3) Angle This designation identies the angle from horizontal, and can be indicated in degrees as 14 02 10 or 14.04.

Climate data for selected locations in Canada

Roong terminology

Sizing roof rafters

Sizing roof rafters

Sizing roof rafters

Sizing roof joists

Sizing roof joists

Sizing roof joists

The text and images used in this presentation have been obtained from a number of di erent sources. This information has been assembled speci cally for the delivery of the course CIVL 478 Building Science & the Building Enclosure, and forms an integral part of the course material which is required for examination. The presentation is intended for educational purposes only, to be used solely by students enrolled in the course. It is not to be distributed electronically or in hard copy format to any other party. Greg Johnson