Framing, where drawings become rooms.
A house takes its volume in days. This is the best moment to walk through it and feel the scale before anything covers it.
- A wall moves cheapest now, not once wires, pipes and drywall are in.
- Walk the framed house with the drawings. Heights, widths and views feel different in three dimensions.
- Blocking for things you will hang later is added now, because it cannot be added invisibly after drywall.
- Top platesTwo layers that tie the wall tops together and carry the floor or roof above.
- HeaderA beam over the opening that carries the load around the window.
- King and jack studsFull-height studs beside the opening, with shorter ones directly under the header.
- SillThe bottom of the window opening, with short studs below it.
- Hold-down strapSteel that anchors the wall to the foundation against wind and earthquakes.
- Bottom plateThe base of the wall, bolted to the foundation.
In the order it happens.
- High
- Medium
- High
Lumber and engineered beams arrive. The floor deck goes down, then walls are built flat and stood up.
The roof structure goes on and the house is sheathed in plywood or similar panels.
Nail guns, saws and deliveries make this a loud phase, and it is the fastest to change the look of the site.
The framing inspection happens before anything covers the structure.
The techniques that matter.
- Straight, dry lumber, bowed boards set aside, so walls come out flat and upright.
- Bracing walls and hardware are fastened exactly as the engineer specified. Nail size and spacing matter.
- Headers, beams and posts are set where the structural plan puts them, with solid support underneath.
- Blocking goes in for cabinets, grab bars, TVs, heavy fixtures and curtain tracks.
Where this trade earns its fee.
- Complex roofs, tall ceilings and big openings that need steel or engineered beams.
- Keeping walls straight so tile, cabinets and drywall go on cleanly.
- Leaving room for ducts, pipes and flues without weakening the structure.
Decide this before the trade starts.
These are the choices that decide whether the finished house matches the one in your head. Changing them later costs time and money.
- Ceiling heights and any beams or soffits you will see.
- Window and door sizes and head heights.
- Stair shape and the clearance above it.
- What will hang on walls later, such as a TV, shelves, grab bars or curtain tracks.
- Can we walk the house with the drawings before it is covered?
- Where is the blocking for cabinets and heavy fixtures?
- When is the framing inspection and what does it cover?
- Site work
- Foundations
- Framing
- Roofing
- Windows and exterior
- Plumbing
- Electrical
- HVAC
- Insulation
- Drywall and plaster
- Tile
- Cabinetry
- Floors and paint
General guidance, not a specification. Your drawings, your engineer and your building inspector govern every job. See the whole process · Trade secrets home
Want this explained on your own house?
Email the address. A written reading of the parcel is free, in two business days.
- Same dayMatt confirms he has it, and flags anything obvious that is missing.
- Within two business daysA written reading of your parcel: jurisdiction, review bodies, constraints, an order of cost and the permit path.
- Then nothing, unless you askNo follow-up sequence, no call from anyone else. The assessment is yours to keep, and to take anywhere.