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Part of our house is brace framed. I do not know much about it and cannot find much information about brace framing. I know that it was commonly used before balloon framing was developed, but that is about it. I can see what they did but have no idea how this type of framing performs. (since our house is 172 years old, it obviously preforms with some adequacy)
For example balloon framing is superior in many ways to modern stick framing (it is stronger against wind loads, more flexible - earthquakes or other movement, etc). Does brace framing provide the same advantages? What are the concerns/disadvantages with brace framing. Are there any modifications that i should consider making?
Brace framing is a term that I was not familiar with, so I looked it up. Brace framing is where all the vertical members, except the corner posts extend for one floor only. The corner posts are braced to the sill and plates.
I probably have never seen a braced frame house. For that matter, balloon framing is not that popular in East Tn and wasn't popular in my area of So CA where I lived either.
Balloon framing has not been used since some time in the ealry or mid 1900s. It creates a fire hazard if they do not add fire stops and it costs more and requires a lot more skill than stick framing. Besides, where are you going to find a straight 32' long 2x4 or 4x4 these days?
Brace framing predatees balloon framing. It took me a while to discover that this was what the strange framing in part of my house actaully was. In our house the horozontal beams are basically trees cut flat on three sides with an axe. The beam is then notched and the posts are inserted. The corner posts extent all the way up.
As far as i know, neither method is in use anymore. All wooden buildings are stick framed.
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Ok, lemme get this straight...
A balloon frame is characterized by long studs that go from the foundation to the eave. How are the second or third floors hung (with any strength) if there isn't a top plate for them to rest on?
Is stick framing synonymous with platform framing?
A balloon frame is characterized by long studs that go from the foundation to the eave. How are the second or third floors hung (with any strength) if there isn't a top plate for them to rest on?
Is stick framing synonymous with platform framing?
A 1x4 or 1x6 would be mortised into the studs and the floor joists rest on it and are fastened to the studs.
"Is stick framing synonymous with platform framing?"
Pretty much...
And Coldjensens, from what you are describing Brace Framing to be is what I would call mortise and tendon timber framing. Very popular in many parts of the country pre 1900...
Today people pay a premium to have a timber framed home. Mostly in the NE part of the country this is very popular now. Most like to use reclaimed timber from homes and barns being torn down.
Before I moved to MT, I had (and still do) a century home built in 1880 and a 2 story barn built in 1900 in OH. The barn was in pretty bad shape from the outside. It was leaning and falling down. All the timbers were in good condition though and I couldn't bring myself to tear it down. So I stripped the siding 2nd floor and slate, leveled, plumed and braced it. Built a new foundation just behind it and called on an 80 ton crane to move it.
I figured on using a 16" beam through the center for the second floor support so I could have a clear span 28 x 32 building when done. The original building had a wall under the original timber holding the 2nd floor. We used that beam first to pick up the whole building and move it onto the new foundation. Then we slid it in on top of the original timber that supported the 2nd floor to hold the new 2nd floor. Ended up being a great project.
Balloon framing has not been used since some time in the ealry or mid 1900s. It creates a fire hazard if they do not add fire stops and it costs more and requires a lot more skill than stick framing. Besides, where are you going to find a straight 32' long 2x4 or 4x4 these days?
Brace framing predatees balloon framing. It took me a while to discover that this was what the strange framing in part of my house actaully was. In our house the horozontal beams are basically trees cut flat on three sides with an axe. The beam is then notched and the posts are inserted. The corner posts extent all the way up.
As far as i know, neither method is in use anymore. All wooden buildings are stick framed.
the technical term for todays construction methods is called "Platform framing" Where each floors walls are framed on top of the floor or "platform"
Here is a n article explaining balloon framing and platform framing.
You are correct about stick framing. Stick framing is a reference to framing a roof without using trusses. Platform framing is what I was referring to. I have always heard it called stick framing by contractors.
I found this (Cannot sleep this morning, The furnace (boiler is out again)
A balloon frame uses long vertical two_by_fours (2 x 4 inch timber lengths) that span multiple floors. Before the balloon frame, brace frame construction (http://www.nationmaster.com/w/index.php?title=Brace_frame_construction&action=ed it - broken link) was standard. Brace frame construction uses heavy timbers to create the skeleton of a structure. Brace framing was a legacy of medieval construction (http://www.nationmaster.com/w/index.php?title=Medieval_construction&action=edit - broken link).
I don't recognize the term brace frame construction either. Sounds like what is typically called timber framing or post and beam construction.
Like what Stephen shows. Been around in many different forms. The Amish still build with much of those sorts of designs. Lots of it around in Ohio, you can see the details good in barns.
If well done probably far superior to modern junk. This Old House had a number of projects where they used those type of techniques with modern twists to insulate with factory produced panels.
The balloon type framing could be a giggle. You found some of it in the old triple deckers in places like Boston. Built as super cheap housing, back when wood was very cheap. Fire would go thru those suckers like slick surry thru a tin horn. Especially those ones that had asphalt shingles on the outside walls. Actually pretty strudy shacks but you sure did not want to be around during a fire. The rule of thumb was run to the front and out. In the old dazes they all used kerosene for heating and cooking. It was stored in the back hallways on every level. Lots of spills and the wood got soaked with it. In a fire, it was an instant torch. Lots of beautiful wood in those suckers, lot of it out of the primary forests. The other chuckle many times was they had huge porches over many levels, front and back. You might find the entire porch structure been supported on a few big rocks. What were them dudes thinking????
Today so much of the construction is governed by the materials available. Sure ain't like the old dazes. Was very nice to recycle all that framing out of some of those porches when the super support systems gave up the ghost.
In this part of our house, the corner posts go all the way up through the second floor. Very large horozontal beams (roughly 12 x 12) are run between the corner posts at the floor level. The large beams are cut out so that the corner posts are inside the beams. I cannot see whether they are nailed or pegged with wooden pegs, but in one visible location there are wooden pins (however the constructon is entirely different on this location, it is all big 12x12 beams with no visible studs, but that wall frames in a fireplace, so they built it differently).
The studs between the corner posts are mortised into the big beams and then nailed. Again it is possible that the studs are pegged in and the nails were added later. However the nails are hand forged square nails so I guess they could be original. There are diagonal beams at the corners that run from the corner posts to the horozontal beams.
Another oddity is that there is no header over the window and door. We had to put a header in to satisfy the inspector, but I am not sure that one is necessary with this type of construciton. (With a 12x12 beam taking the load, do you really need a header?)
The 12 x 12 beams are not entirely 12x12. They are cut into a sort of triangle. The top is wider and the bottom is narrower (about 4" at the bottom). They were cut with an axe in some places and sawn in others.
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Sounds like a form of Post and Beam
