Lesson 3: Frameworks of a Building

Learning Objectives:
Cognitive:

 Describe the Frameworks of a building.

 Differentiate each frameworks of a building.
Affective:
Study the Frameworks of a building
Value the importance of each Frameworks of the building.
Psychomotor:
Identify each Framework of a building.
Draw Frameworks of a building.

Frameworks of a Building
The building is made up of frames or frame assemblies. These are the floor frame, Wall frame,
partition frame, roof frame, and ceiling frame. These frames are called the framework of the building.
Floor Frame- The floor frame, consists of the girders, floor joist, and bridging’s

 Girders are the beams which supports the joist and tie the posts together.
 Floor Joist are the beams to which the floorings are nailed.
 Bridging serves to stiffen the joist and make them carry the same load.
Wall Frame- The wall frame, has six parts: the sole, the vertical and horizontal studs, the cap plates, the
girt plates, the posts and the braces. In most cases, the post is a part of the wall frame.
  Sole- is the point where the lower end of the vertical stud stands.
 Vertical Studs- the upper end of the vertical studs is tied by either the cap plates of the girt plates.
 Horizontal Studs- are placed between the vertical studs.
 Braces- Serve to stiffen the studs and the sides of the building.
Partition Frame- the inner walls dividing the structure into rooms are called partitions. The partition
frame, like the wall frame includes the sole, the vertical and horizontal studs, the cap plates and the
braces. The lower ends of the vertical studs are attached to the to the sole, and their upper ends are
attached to the cap. The partition boards are attached to the vertical and horizontal studs and to the rest
of the partition wall.
Some partitions are load-bearing. This means that they help carry the weight of the ceiling. The
other partitions are not load-bearing but just separate one room from another.
Roof Frame- The roof frame consists of seven parts: Girt plate, trusses, rafters, purlins, purlins’
cleat, stretchers, and anchors for the trusses or rafters.

 Girt Plates- support either the trusses or the rafters, and they tie the ends of the posts and the
vertical studs.
 Truss- is a braced framework made up of triangles, and it holds up the roof.
  Rafters- supports the purlins. The rafters may be part of trusses or they may be used alone.
 Roofing- is attached to the purlins.
 Cleat- the cleats of the purlins anchor the purlins to the rafters and prevent the purlins from tilting.

 Stretchers- are the horizontal members placed between the tie beams of two trusses, and they
serve to steady the lower part.
 Truss Braces- usually connect the tie beam of one truss to the upper part of another truss, thus
steadying the upper part of the trusses.
Ceiling Frame- The ceiling frame consists of the primary and the intermediate ceiling joists and the
hangers. The long joists- are the primaries and the short joists, nailed between the primaries, are the
intermediates.

The hanger supports the ceiling where it tends to sag. These hangers are nailed to stronger
members of the other frames in the building where the ceiling is to be located.
Hence, the hangers may be nailed to a part of a roof frame or floor frames. The ceiling boards are
the attached to the

LUMBERS FOR BEAMS

Lumber for beams, such as girders, girt plates, floor joist, rafter, purling, and similar horizontal
pieces supporting the weight, should be free from rot, knots, shakes, and other defects that weaken the
materials.
COVERINGS
The different coverings of a building are the floorings, sidings, partition boards, ceiling boards and
the roofing.
1. Flooring- is the material used to cover the floor. The floor includes both the framework and its
cover.
 Various materials such as lumber, bamboo, concrete, and other materials, are used for the
flooring.
2. Walling- Walling or sidings is the general name for the material that covers the wall. The wall is
both the framework and the cover.
Among the materials most commonly used as sidings in the Philippines are lumbers,
masonry, galvanized iron (G.I. sheets, pressed boards, bamboo, and nipa leaves.

3. Double Wall- The double wall is the inner covering attached to the room side of the stud. The
double wall is found in more expensive houses in this country and in houses built in cooler parts of
the world. Plywood or lawanit sidings or other kinds of boards are used for double walls. Stucco and
plaster may also be used for the purpose.

4. Roofing- The term roofing refers to the materials used as a water proof cover for the building. The
roof included both the framework and the cover.
Various materials such as G.I sheets and other machine-made roofing materials, palm leaves, cogon
and other grass such as talahib, wood, bamboo, and other Philippine materials used for the roofing.
The ridge roll, is the water proof material placed at the ridge. It may consist of the same material as the
roofing. The same is true of the flashing at the valley of the roof.
A hip roll, which has similar construction as the ridge roll, is placed at the hip of the roof.
The Flashing, is the waterproof materials such G.I Sheets, Similar materials, placed at joints of valley
roofs, the joints of a roof to the wall, the joints of a drip cap to a wall, similar constructions.
5. Partition covers- the term partition includes both the frame and its covering.
Partition covers are made of plywood, lawanit, or similar machine-made board, bamboo, and other
materials available in the Philippines. The partition may be permanent or movable.

6. Ceiling Covers- The term ceiling includes the framework and the cover. Materials used to cover the
ceiling include manufactured boards, lumber, bamboo, and other materials that can be obtained in
the locality.

THE WOOD FLOOR SYSTEM

 The wood floor system includes:

a. Girders f. Trimmer
b. Floor joists g. Tail Beam
c. Joist bridging h. Tongue and Grove Flooring
d. Sill or wood plate i. Draft stop Plate
e. Header j. Ledger Strip

Girder- is a principal beam extending from wall to wall. It is a member supporting the floor
joists or floor beams. Others define girder as the major horizontal support member upon which
floor system is laid. Girder maybe either: a. Solid b. Built up

Floor joists- are those parts of the floor system placed on the girders where the floor joists
are fastened. Floor joists are usually fastened on the girder at a distance from 30 to 40 centimeters
rigidly secured by bridging to prevent from wagging sideways.

Sill- is that part of a house that rest horizontally upon the foundation. Sill is further defined
as those wood members fastened with anchor belts to the foundation wall. Others call it wood
plate.
 Head and Trimmer- Header is a short transverse joist that supports the end of the cut-off
joists as a stair well hole. Trimmer is a supporting joist which carries an end portion of a header.

Flooring- refers to the tongue and groove board, which is the most common flooring
materials, although flooring could also mean other materials suitable for flooring other than the
T&G. The thickness of this wood board is from ¾” to 1” with varying width that ranges from 3 ½” to
6”.

THE FLOOR FRAME

This chapter deals with girders, sills, floor joists, and bridging. The basic principles discussed here
are applicable to different types of house frame.
Girder- are the beam that support the floor joists and tie the posts. Girders may be single or double
beams, one of each side of the post, or solid pieces placed between supports.
 Remember these two points:
1. Make the top of the girders level. When using double beams, make them level with each other so
that there will be a level bed for the floor joists.
2. Make the bottom surface of the girders for the second story or another stories level. Also make
bottom of the double beams level with each other so that you will have no difficulty in covering the
gap between the two beams. (Fig. 70).

Notches on Posts- (Fig. 71-A) Are cuts on posts to support the girders. These notches may be cut either
when the posts are still on the ground or after they are erected. Notches on posts with concrete
foundations can be cut when the posts are still lying on the ground, because the height and levelness of
the foundations are already known.

In some construction, pegs are used to support the girders. These pegs are inserted into mortises in the
posts. (Fig. 71-B)

Depth of Notches- The depth of the notches is sometimes not indicated in the building plans. In this
case the builders have to decide how deep they will be.
Width of the Notches- The girders should be well fitted to the notches so as to produce a strong joint.
If notches are wider than some girders, it will be necessary to place wedges under the girders and then this
will not be so strong as when they are fitted nicely.
For preliminary cuts, the width of the narrowest girder is taken as the width of the notches to give
allowance for individual fitting of the girders. If, for example, the width of the girders to be used is 8’, this is
the normal size. By actual measurements they will be more or less 8” wide, some 7”, others &-7/8”, 8”,
81/4”, etc. In this case 7” is taken as the width of the preliminary cuts.
 Distance of the Notch to the Bottom of the Posts. The distance of the notch to the bottom of the
posts is not given in building plans. What is the indicated is either the distance from the floor level to the
grade level or the distance between two floor levels.
To find the distance of the upper surface of the girder from the bottom of the post, it is necessary to
subtract the sum of the thickness of the flooring, the width of the floor joist, and the height of the
foundation from the distance of the height of the floor line to the grade level.(Fig. 72) The same procedure
id followed between the upper floor levels, except that no foundation is considered.

Example: The height of the floor is 4 feet form the grade level. The thickness of the flooring is ¾”; the
width of the floor joists is 5”; and the height of the foundation from the grade level is 12”. Add ¾”,5”, and
12” and the sum is 17”. Subtract 17” from 4 feet and the difference is the distance of the upper surface of
the girder from the bottom of the post.

Laying Out the Notches- Now that the height and width of the notch are known, the next job is to lay
out the notches on the posts.
The procedure is as follows:
1. Lay all posts having the same height of the girders side by side, their bottom in line. (Fig. 73)

2. On the outside posts, lay out the width of the girder.

3. Mark the other posts by using a chalk line or a straight edge to connect the mark of the outer posts.
4. Mark the depth of the notches with a marking gauge.
5. Cut the notches.
If it is a double notch, transfer the marks to the other side with a try square.
Laying Out Notched on Posts already Erected- How are notches laid out on posts that are already
standing?
 The procedure is as follows:
1. Determine the height of the upper part of the girder on one of the corner posts.
2. Going around the side of the building, stretch a string from this post to the other corner posts.
3. Level this string.
4. With the level string as a basis, mark the level string as a basis, mark the width of the notches on all
the posts.

Placing Girders
1. Fitting girders to notches on the posts- Before bringing up the girders, you should ready the
necessary scaffolding and bracket brace, (Fig. 74), where the girders are to rest.

The notches that were cut are the width of the narrowest girder, and therefore they are to be
widened to admit the wider girder. To widen, remove either the lower or the upper part of the
beam.
 Concealed Girders- level the top portion. Hence the notch is widened at the lower portion. If
double beams are used, also level their top. However, you need not level the bottom joined
girders and double girders.

 Exposed Girders- it is not pleasing to see an unevenness at the bottom of the girders along
which the joints are made, nor of the double beams. Therefore, any widening should be
done at the upper part of the notch. This make the top of the girder not level and uneven.
Then too, the gap at the bottom of exposed double-beam girders is usually closed by a
board. This being the case, there is a need for the two beams to be even at the bottom.
2. Position and Leveling of girders (Fig. 75)- Beams for girders are not always straight. Always place
the crowns uppermost when putting these beams. The tops of the girders need to be level and
straight, and so the crowns have to be removed. But to save on labor, it is only where the floor
joists are to rest which should be made level.
3. Joints of girders- This is called the compression scarf joint. The joint is a long as the width of the
post. The pieces to be joined are not always of the same width. Therefore, you should first decide
whether the top or the bottom of the girder is to be in line. You should look after the placing of the
girders. Remember too, that crown is always on top. Another important point to consider is that if
possible, when it is a double girder and joints are to be made, one girder should be continuous with
the joint on one side.

Sill- The horizontal plank on top of the wall foundation to serve as a support for the floor joist. It is
laid flat on its side. As with the girders, the top of the sill has to be levelled. The joints can be laid
directly on the foundation without a sill, but it has to be anchored. Thus, a sill is used to facilitate
nailing. The sill also helps distribute the load to the foundation. The sill is anchored by bolts.

Floor Joists- Are the horizontal beams to which the flooring is nailed. They are supported either by
girders or by sills. The Top of the joist must be level and even in order that the flooring will be flat.

The joists are placed with their edge resting on the girders. The crown or the beams must always be
on top.
In actual work, though the floor joists are one nominal size, thickness, and width, the sizes vary by a
fraction of an inch. To make the top of the beam level, it is necessary that they have the same height
when placed on the girders.
You should also decide how high the upper surface will be from the girder. Will it be the width of
the narrowest or the most common of the beam? The average width is usually followed.
When this matter has been decided, follow this procedure in placing the joist:
1. Placing joists on top of girders where the places of the joists are level (Fig. 78)- Since the places
of the joists are already level, it will only be necessary to size the beams to a uniform width. This
does not mean cutting the entire length of all pieces to the same width; it only means cutting at
the places where they are attached to the girders.
 The following procedure is as follows:
a. Distribute the floor joist to their proper places.
b. Mark the plates for the girders on them.
c. Adjust a marking gauge to the desired width.
d. Mark all the floor joists at the places where the girders will be.
e. Remove any excess width from the floor joists.
f. Nail the joists to the girders. Toe-nail them with 2” or 3” nails.
2. To place joists on top of girders having crowns- One method is as following:
a. Snap a level chalk-line mark along the girder, the same as described in positioning and
leveling girders.
b. Lay the floor joists bottom up. (Fig. 79)

c. From the chalk-line marks, measure the required distance and remove any excess.
d. Turn the floor joists and nail it.

Another method is as follows, (Fig. 80):

a. Stretch a horizontal string whose distance above the girders is the desired height of the joist
surface.
b. At every place for a joist, measure the distance of the string to the girder.
c. Size up the width of the joists to this measurement. It may be that the crown of the girder is
high and it is necessary to remove part of the joist. In this case, it is advisable to remove
both joist and girder.
 d. Nail the joists to the girders. When nailing each joist, be sure that it does not touch the
string up. If it does, it may push the string up, thereby making the measurements for the
other joists inaccurate. Provide a little clearance between the string and the joist.
Leveling the Entire Surface of all the joints- The next work is now to level the top of the joists:
Here is the procedure: (Fig. 81)

1. At the end points where the joists are level above the girders, mark with a chalk-line.
2. Connect these level points with a chalk-line along the side of the joist.
3. Remove all high places with an adze or a plane.
Marking the places for the Floor Joists on the Girders- In most building plans, the distance from
the joists is usually indicated as from center to center. It this is followed in marking it is quite
bothersome to locate the joists to these center marks.
To avoid this trouble, you can make a slight modification so the measurements will become
the edged-to-edge distance between the corresponding sides of the joists.
Fig. 82 shows how to do this. The first measurements will be from center to center. Subtract
½ the thickness of the joist. This point is the edge of the beam. From this point, measure the
specified distance of the joists. All the marks will be for the edge-to-edge distance of the
corresponding sides of the joists.

Straightening Floor Joists- Straightening all joists before you measure and place the bridging. To do
this, sight or use a string as your guide to bring the joists into a straight position, and nail a 1x2 to
hold them in place. (Fig. 83)
Bridging- are used to stiffen and to distribute the load among the joists. You can use either a solid
piece, (Fig. 83) or crossed pieces, (Fig. 84) for bridging.

The solid piece can be placed in a straight line or it can be staggered. If staggered, it is easier
to nail.
The bridging is placed at the center of the span between the girders; but if the span is long,
two sets are placed. Snap a chalk-line along the places of the bridgings’ as your guide in aligning
them.
THE FLOORING
Although there are different materials used for flooring, we shall here discuss only lumber
and bamboo (Kawayan or Longogan).

Commercial Flooring consists of Tongue-and-Grove (T&G) boards, (Fig. 85). This is available
in different thickness and widths. Since they are machined-planed, the actual thickness is less than
the stated or nominal thickness. Thus, a board whose size is 1” is actually less than one inch.
Placing the Flooring- before the flooring is laid, the edge of the T&G is planned a little. This is done to make
it easy to fit the flooring together. The planning should not be overdone, otherwise, the sealing purpose of
the T&G is destroyed. (Fig. 86)
Follow this procedure:
1. Strike a chalk-line on the floor joists, from one end of the room to the other, and parallel to the
wall. The distance from this line to the sole should be a little more than the width of one flooring

2. Along this line, temporarily nail a straight flooring, the groove side facing the sole.
3. Fit the edge of the flooring to the sole.
 Make a marking gauge out of a board about 2” long and wider than the gap between the
flooring and the gap between the flooring and the sole. To this board, drive a nail whose
distance to the edge of this board is wider than the gap between the flooring and the
sole and beyond the groove of the nailed flooring, (Fig. 87-A). With this gauge, mark the
footing. Base the gauge against the sole. The line they made follows the irregularities of
the sole. Remove any excess.
 Another way to make a marking gauge is to use a pencil and a piece of board. See to it
that the board is wider than the gap between the flooring and the sole. Move the board
and pencil along the flooring, pressing the gauge against the sole while moving it. (Fig.
87-B)
  Sometimes, there are posts along the first course. Snap a chalk-line whose distance to
the post is the width of one flooring. Place the flooring and mark it. Use any of the above
gauges. Remove the excess parts of the flooring by ripping. (Fig. 88)

4. Nail the flooring in place. Nail on its top, near the sole and its tongue.
5. Lay the next course of the flooring. To move it close to the first, put an extra piece of flooring in
place and drive this piece with a hammer to push the flooring Fig. 89-A. To move it closer, use a
framing chisel as a lever as shown in fig. 89-B.

6. Fit in the last course of the flooring. (Fig. 90)

The end joints of the Flooring- Pieces that are joined end to end must be of the width. If the pieces with
unequal widths are joined, a gap will result when the succeeding courses are laid.
Planing and Sanding the Floor- After the floor boards are permanently nailed, they have to be planed or
sanded to even smoothen the surface.
Bamboo Flooring- Heavy bamboo can be used as beautiful flooring. Split the bamboo into narrow strips.
Use only mature bamboo because weevils (bukbok) attack immaturely bamboo. The bamboo is generally
cut during the months from September to January or the months preceding the time they change their
leaves.
Preparation of the Bamboo Flooring- To prepare bamboo flooring, follow this procedure:
1. Scrape off the outer skin of the bamboos and smoothen the nodes.
2. With a bolo or pencil, mark a diagonal index line. You will need this index mark as your guide in
arranging the strips from one bamboo piece. (Fig. 91)

Nailing the Bamboo Strips- Lay the strips with the nodes either diagonal or in a straight line. The first
method produces a design and also distributes the raised portions of the strips.
Tying the Bamboo Strips- Instead of being nailed to the joists, the bamboo flooring can be tied to bamboo
strips. Either bamboo or rattan ties can be used. (Fig. 92)
References:
Simplified method on Building Construction (Pages 121-124)
Building Construction, House Wiring, House Plumbing, and Estimating (Pages 38-48)
https://www.hometips.com/how-it-works/floor-subflooring.html
https://tyvekbku.com/reading/L1C2-study4-jmg.pdf
https://www.fpl.fs.fed.us/products/presentations/video-wood-floor-systems-in-residential-
construction-series.php
https://www.sika.com/en/construction/floor-systems/wood-floor-installation.html