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How To Build A House: The Platform Frame

The document discusses the platform frame, which is the most common way to build the shell of a house in the United States, accounting for over 90% of new single-family homes. The platform frame originated as a refinement of the balloon frame from the 1800s. In the platform frame, carpenters first build a floor system supported by the foundation, and then construct the first floor walls on top of this platform. After building the first floor walls, they construct a second platform floor across the top to build the second floor walls upon. This process creates shorter wall studs compared to the balloon frame.

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604 views2 pages

How To Build A House: The Platform Frame

The document discusses the platform frame, which is the most common way to build the shell of a house in the United States, accounting for over 90% of new single-family homes. The platform frame originated as a refinement of the balloon frame from the 1800s. In the platform frame, carpenters first build a floor system supported by the foundation, and then construct the first floor walls on top of this platform. After building the first floor walls, they construct a second platform floor across the top to build the second floor walls upon. This process creates shorter wall studs compared to the balloon frame.

Uploaded by

mandy
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We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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  • How to Build a House: The Platform Frame
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How to build a house : The Platform Frame

[Link] /build-house-platform-frame/

How to build a house : The Platform Frame

the platform frame

There are many ways to build the shell of a house, but the most common, by far, is the platform frame.
Because it accounts for more than 90% of the new single-family homes in the United States, the
platform frame is the focus of this book. Most of the building techniques used to build platform-framed
houses are readily transferable to other systems.

The platform frame is a relatively new construction system. It is a refinement of the balloon frame,
which was developed in the American West in the mid-1800s. In the 1930s, the platform frame
emerged as a modification of the balloon frame. The main innovation in the platform frame was the
length of the wall studs. In a two-story balloon frame, the studs extend from the mud-sill, past the
second floor, and up to a top plate just below the eave or rake of the roof. The studs often have to be 16
ft. to 20 ft. long. The intervening floors bear on ledgers that are set in notches cut in the studs.

In a two-story platform frame, carpenters begin by building a floor system, which bears on the mud-sill.
This floor serves as a platform upon which the walls for the first story are built. After building, raising,
and bracing the first-story walls, a second floor is built across them. This floor serves as a second
platform upon which the walls for the second story are built. The ceiling at the uppermost level serves
as a final platform and is often used to stand on as the carpenters assemble the roof frame.

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