Ira Samuel Griffith

“ If we begin to frame with the shortest jack instead of the longest, we first determine the length of the shortest jack, remembering that its run in the square cornered building will be the same as its spacing from the corner along the plate, or along the ridge in case of a valley jack. ”

“ The value to a beginner of a carefully made plan of a roof to be framed with necessary data such as rafter lengths and positions indicated thereon, cannot be too strongly emphasized. Architects not infrequently prepare elaborate and complete framing plans for the use of the carpenter. Upon intricate plans, experienced men -49- prepare plans before attempting to frame the same. Fig. 43 illustrates a framing plan ready for the placing thereon of the necessary data, such as measurements along the plate for spacing the rafters, lengths of rafters, ridge pieces, etc. ”

“ If a jamb should not be set plumb and out of wind, the operation of making a door fit its stops properly is a most trying one and the result usually unsatisfactory. Too much emphasis cannot be placed upon the necessity for proper placing of studs and jambs. (1) Saw off the head lugs just enough to allow the frame to be placed in the opening. (2) Cut a spacing stick of a length sufficient to reach from the floor to the under surface of the head jamb when that member is in its proper place. ”

“ In selecting the numbers to use on the tongue and the blade of the square, in laying out seat and plumb cuts of hip or valley rafters of intersecting roofs of different pitches, any numbers may be used -91- providing they have a ratio equal to that of the run and rise of the rafter being framed. Since the angle of intersection changes with every change of pitch, it is hardly worth while developing a constant to be used on the tongue in framing hip and valley rafters on irregular pitches. ”

“ Roof Frame: any Polygon Fig. 68. Tangents 30. Tangents; Miter Cuts of the Plate.—Before the principles involved in the laying out of rafters on any type of roof can be understood, a clearer idea of the term tangent as used in roof framing must be had. A tangent of an angle of a right triangle is the ratio or fractional value obtained by dividing the value of the side opposite that angle by the value of the adjacent side. The tangent at the plate, to which reference was made is the tangent of the angle having for its adjacent sides the run of the common rafter and the run of the hip or valley. ”

“ Footings.—Because of the tendency of a building to settle unevenly, due to variations in the strength of the supporting ground or the unequal weight placed upon this ground, foundations must be constructed of some non-yielding material such as brick or stone, and of such thickness and so bonded that the weight of the building may be evenly distributed. ”

“ With the growing scarcity of lumber the "half frame" of Fig. 18 became common. This latter type, it will be seen, makes less use of heavy timbers and wooden pins, and more use of planks and nails. To-day the vast majority of buildings, where wood is the material used, are constructed by what is known as "balloon framing" in houses and "plank framing" in barns, Figs. 19 and 20. In view of this, attention will be directed to balloon framing only. One who is able to frame a house should have no trouble with plank barn framing, where drawings show the details. ”

“ From a study of these illustrations it will be seen that a hip or valley rafter of a square cornered building is in either case the diagonal of a square prism which has for its base dimensions the tangent and run of the roof, and for its height the rise of the roof, Fig. 57. On a square cornered building the run and tangent are always equal. ”

“ With a protractor, measure the angle A of the triangle whose sides were just measured, and compare the ratios of the sides or the functional values with those given in the Table, Appendix III, for the same angle. The larger the scale of the drawing, the greater the accuracy. By making use of the hundredths scale of the framing square together with a finely pointed pair of dividers, variation in values should not be great. ”

“ The thickness of wall will depend upon the weight to be supported and upon the character of the soil.
Unless rock or gravel is encountered, every foundation should have a footing, Fig. 7. The amount of footing used is usually twice the thickness of the foundation wall. In brick walls this footing draws into the wall by "stepped" courses of brick, each layer being narrower than the one just preceding. For ordinary residence work with ordinary soil conditions a 10- or 12-inch wall resting upon a footing 2 feet wide and 8 or 10 inches deep will suffice. ”

“ Anchors are used to tie the building together, and these are to be placed near the lower edge of the joists so that they may split out of the joists easily or allow the floor to drop free, in case of a falling of the floor and joists.
A popular type of construction is that known as brick veneer, Fig. 148. It consists of an ordinary framed house with a covering of brick as shown. These bricks are fastened to the wall by -139- metallic bonds. From the outside, the building has all of the appearance of solid brick, while it is claimed that a wall so formed is warmer than one of solid brick. ”

“ The upper end of this second valley rafter is framed with a plumb cut such as would be given a hip or valley of the same rise and run; the end, however, is cut square across as in the case of a common rafter resting against a ridge.
28. Framing the Jack Rafter for Square Cornered Buildings; Plumb Cut; Side Cut.—Jack rafters which have their top ends framed against a hip are known as hip jacks; those having the lower ends framed against a valley are known as valley jacks; those which are framed in between hip and valley are known as cripple jacks. ”

“ Not infrequently a wall will be constructed with an ashlar facing attached to a brick backing by means of metal bonds. In such a wall, the faced ashlar, unless more than 8 inches in thickness and well bonded into the wall, should not be considered in estimating the strength of the wall.
Fig. 12. "Form" for Concrete
In the construction of both brick and stone walls the work -23- should be carried up as nearly as possible at the same levels. In both brick and stone walls the corners are run up with stepped courses, the corners being plumbed as the wall is carried upward. ”

“ Sheeting is placed either horizontally across the studs or diagonally, sometimes both ways, depending upon the specifications of the architect. The diagonal is somewhat stronger but is more expensive. The horizontal is satisfactory upon ordinary frame dwellings, especially where the building is braced at the corners by studs cut in diagonally, or by sheeting placed diagonally at the corners as in Fig. 90. Such sheeting should be matched and well nailed with two 8d nails to each stud. Building paper should be placed upon the sheeting to further protect the interior from cold. ”

“ There remains the sawing out. On open stringers this is done by sawing square across the board or plank. Where the exposed ends of risers would make a bad appearance, the cuts in the stringers for risers are made mitering and the ends of the risers are mitered correspondingly. In either case the end of the riser will be flush with the exposed side of the stringer or string.
Fig. 124 illustrates an economical way of constructing a center stringer, a 2" × 4" having nailed to its top edge the waste cut from the side or wall stringers. ”

“ Scraping floors is a tedious task at best. Electrically driven machines now relieve the carpenter of much of this work, the floors being laid and finished by a specialist in floor work. The shoe -137- mould is placed last, being nailed to the floor, so that any shrinkage of the joists will cause the mould to drop with the floor. Base board and shoe mould should be stained, but not varnished, before the mould is placed.
On account of waste in tonguing and grooving and straightening flooring stock, an allowance of from 1⁄5 to 1⁄4 extra is necessary in estimating. ”

“ Posts and balusters are usually placed after the porch roof has been placed, the upper frame being temporarily supported by studs.
In Fig. 127 is also shown the manner of framing the bearing joists, ceiling joists and rafters for a hip roof. The various cuts are obtained in the same manner as are similar cuts on the main roof. Porch roofs are seldom given as much pitch as the main roof. They do not need as much and must, usually, be kept below the window sill line of the second story. ”

“ Fitting a Door.—The names of the parts of a door and their relative positions are indicated in Fig. 132. (1) Mark with a try-square and saw off the lugs, the parts of the stiles which project beyond the rails. (2) Plane an edge of the door until it fits the side of the frame against which it is to be hung. If the frame is straight, this edge may be planed straight. It is not wise to take for granted the squareness or straightness of a frame. A test or series of tests may first be made with square and straight-edge. ”

“ This, however, is the theoretic length of ridge as measured from center to center. Enough extra stock must be left on the ridge when framing it to allow full contact of hip cheeks. This additional measurement at each end of the ridge will be equal to 1⁄2 the diagonal thickness of the hip plus 1⁄2 the thickness of the ridge, Fig. 54, making a total addition equal to the -58- diagonal thickness of the hip plus the thickness of the ridge. Fig. 55 illustrates the placing of the square to determine the diagonal thickness of a hip rafter which strikes the ridge at an angle of 45 degrees. ”

“ On enclosed or semi-enclosed stringers, a combination of stringer and wall board is commonly used. Fig. 125 illustrates a type of construction often used upon attic stairs. In this the side stringers are framed of 1" stock and then nailed to the wall board of similar thickness. Such construction is not suited for first floor stair work where the effects of shrinkage would show to greater disadvantage. ”

“ If plain butt hinges are used the operations are similar to those just described except that the whole hinge must be fastened to the door and the door held in place while fastening the hinges to the frame.
70. Fitting Locks.—Two types of lock are in common use upon dwelling doors, the rim and the mortise lock. The rim lock, Fig. 140, is used upon cheap -133- construction and is attached to the outer surface of the door. The mortise lock is used upon the better class of work; the box is housed into a mortise and the selvage into a gain cut into the edge of the door stile. ”

“ Estimating Millwork Quantities.—The number of doors and windows will be determined by an actual count.
Mouldings, casings, baseboard when moulded, window stools, etc., are sold by the 100 feet lineal measure, random lengths. Extra charge is made for specified lengths where the quantities are determined by scale measurements of the plan and elevations. Window frames of stock sizes, door frames, inside jambs, stair parts, buffets, etc., will be found priced in millmen's catalogs, and assist greatly in determining prices for ordinary work. ”

“ All hard wood finish floors are milled with tongues and grooves on edges and ends. Holes for nailing are usually drilled at the mill also.
Fig. 142. Locating Knob Spindle Hole
In laying a finish floor, it is not advisable to lay it with its lengths extending in the same direction as those of the rough floor. The shrinkage of the wide boards of the under floor will open unseemly cracks in the finish floor. Where it is necessary to run lengths for both floors in the same direction the finish floor should be separated from the rough floor by thin furring, such as lath, placed 16" apart. ”

“ Sills and Girders.—In Fig. 21 will be found illustrated three types of box sill construction. Whatever the sill used, care must be taken to so plan that mice may not have free access to the various parts of the building. If the sill does not inhibit, then blocks should be spiked between the studs. Such blocks serve as fire breaks. ”

“ Test the squareness of the whole lay-out by measuring the diagonals A-D and B-C. If the building lay-out is square the diagonals should be equal. If they are not equal, shift the cords at C and D, retaining their parallelism, until the diagonals become equal. (6) Once the lay-out is correct,-16- saw kerfs should be made in the batter boards where the cords are placed. These kerfs will permit the cords being removed and replaced without further measuring. ”

“ In estimating labor costs the following data is to be made use of. The estimator will have to determine the hours per day and the scale of wages per hour paid in his locality, and make whatever changes in the data is necessary. He should also compare the quantity of work done by men he may observe with that given herewith. The time data herewith is based upon the work of one mechanic who has mastered his trade fairly well. With an efficient foreman and a selected group of workmen these time allowances can be reduced in many instances as much as one-half. ”

“ Wire nails are also bought and sold by weight, the size of wire according to the standard wire gage and the length in inches being taken into consideration in specifying the size and in fixing the price per pound.
Common wire nails are thick and have large flat heads. They are used in rough work where strength is desired. Finishing nails are used for fine work such as inside woodwork and cabinet work. Casing nails are somewhat thicker and stronger than finishing nails; they have smaller heads. ”

“ Where many joists are to be carried, headers or trimmers, or carrying joists must be doubled. Iron stirrups or hangers should be used instead of spikes in joining headers to carrying joists where spikes would weaken the carrying joist and would not give
sufficient strength to the joint. Except upon long spans, tail beams are usually fastened to the header by spiking only. On long spans they should be framed to the header as joists are framed to a girder, a 2" × 4" being spiked firmly to the header as a support. ”

“ When a section such as the number of men available can raise is ready, the same is raised, and stayed after being plumbed. The studs of partitions are framed but one story high and "plated" at such a height that second floor joists may be placed thereon in splicing. Just as far as possible first and second floor joists should be spaced to rest one directly above another and in line with the supporting studs of partitions so that furnace stacks may be placed with ease. If joists rest upon partition plates and not directly above studs, a double plate must be made use of. ”

“ Example of Form for Carpentry Costs.—The following form, used by a practical carpenter, and published in the Correspondence Department of The American Carpenter and Builder, should suggest means whereby the data just given may be made more readily available for estimating purposes.
It must be remembered in interpreting all such data that costs will vary greatly with conditions. A carpenter, for illustration, who gives his time and attention to general carpentry cannot lay shingles with the speed a specialist in shingling can. ”