How Important Is Precision?Accuracy between the sill plates, joists and studs will eventually determine how the rest of your home will fit together. For this reason alone, it's extremely vital that the framing be precise in all cuts and measurements (figure A).
"Precision is probably the most critical part," Rod Brewster, a general contractor, said. "People all have different tolerances. The more perfect or exact you can make stud cuts, the more level your upper floors will be, the more level your roof will be. So precision is the bottom line to the business."
Normally, if everyone does their job properly it all fits. There are a couple of important things to consider when it comes to framing a house:
One is to have it square, plumb and level. Square is 90 degrees. Plumb is straight up and down. Level is the plane on the horizon.- Make sure that all the rough openings are the correct size. If you have a window and it hasn't been framed out the correct size, when the window person comes to for the installation, the window won't fit because it wasn't framed properly.
Remember that the frame of your home is the skeleton on which everything else -- the insulation, the drywall and cabinets -- will rest. It's the support system of your home. So make sure to pay attention to the details during the framing stage. It'll save you time, money and a lot of headaches!
For more information on framing your new home, visit our Home IQ Online Package. We have a slide show on framing and a framing section under the "Raise You Home IQ" section.
In the second episode on framing the difference between framing single-story homes and multiple-story homes is discussed, along with the step-by-step for framing a multi-story home. Finally, we'll focus on framing the roof.
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