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Carpentry, Roof Cutting, and House Framing Tips for the Pro

Carpentry by an efficient and experienced carpenter shares his house framing knowledge and shortcuts with viewers.

Concrete Forms

Concrete Forms

Read about the different types of concrete forming systems used in residential construction.

Stairs

Stairs
Learn how to build stairs.

Prefabricated Stairs
Wooden prefabricated stairs are available locally and their use can easily equate into a savings of 30 - 40 percent.

Stair Calculator
The Construction Master 5 has a stair calculator function to greatly improve stair layout accuracy and efficiency.

Portable Stairs
Even if custom wooden stairs are to be installed, portable stairs should be constructed as soon as possible.

Carpentry Training Schools

Carpentry Training

On this web page I discuss some of the more common carpentry courses offered by union training centers and trade schools.

Carpentry Schools

Carpentry schools are an excellent way to receive the training needed to move up the pay ladder in the construction industry. This type of training is available thru high school vocational classes, carpentry trade schools, and the local union carpenters regional training centers.

Floor Framing

Floor Framing Tips
Tips and techniques for floor framing including floor joists and sill plates

Sill Plates
The first yet most important step in carpentry is the laying of the sill plates!

Wall Framing

Wall Framing Basics
Here you will find the basics of wall framing,studs, headers, cripples, corners, etc.

Rough Openings for Door Framing
How to determine door framing rough openings for the most common residential doors.

Laying Out Wall Framing
When laying out wall framing, the lead man must be efficient, clear, and concise with the marking of the framing components. This page contains some tips and shortcut's to speed up this carpentry task

Tips for Framing Walls
Framing walls is like working a puzzle. The lay out carpenter has marked all plates for the location of windows, doors, corners, studs, and wall intersections.

Squaring Walls
Squaring walls before standing is a rather simple process. Whenever possible, walls should be squared up and sheathed before standing.

Conventional Window Framing Tips
Step by step tutorial showing how to assemble window framing components using diagrams for clearer illustrations.

Pocket Door Framing
At first glance the rough opening for pocket door framing will seem very large. You are actually creating an opening for two doors.

Garage Door Framing
Follow this advice on garage door framing and framing your garage door opening should be a snap.

Balloon Framing
Modern balloon framing, lay out and construction methods for framing a gable wall. This method is only used in certain situations by modern carpenter's.

Roof Trusses

Installing Trusses

Installing trusses is the only way to go if you are building a shed, garage, or similar small building and aren't capable of cutting a roof.

Smaller roof trusses are in stock at most local lumber yards and big box home improvement centers. They can often be bought for around the same price as the lumber required of a conventional framed roof.

Types of Roof Trusses

Roof trusses are utilized in nearly four out of five homes built in America.

Ordering Roof Trusses

Before ordering roof trusses several options must be considered and decided upon before placing the order.

Basic Roof Framing

Basic Roof Styles
The same basic roof styles are used in building any type of residential construction. Whether you are building a dog house, shed, garage, single family home, or mansion the roof will consist of one style or a combination of several different roof types.

Roof Framing Basics
When roof framing it all begins with the framing square and the layout of the common rafter.

Types of Roof Rafters
Only seven different types of roof rafters are required to build the most complex roof.

Basic Rafter Cuts
The same three basic rafter cuts are used on common, jack, valley, and hip rafters.

Framing Square Basics
Tips for using a framing square to cut common rafters. Including some carpentry shortcuts gained from my many years of experience.

How to Determine Roof Pitch
Finding your roof pitch should be easy using one of these five simple techniques.

Cutting Rafters Accurately
Cutting rafters accurately is the key to a sturdy roof, there are three different techniques I use for this carpentry task.

Gable Roof Framing
After learning how to build walls, frame floors, and ceilings gable roof framing is the next step in learning the carpentry trade. Some roofs are so complicated they tax the knowledge and patience of even the most experienced roof cutters. A simple straight gable roof however is not one of those roofs.

Gable Roof Overhang Framing
Framing a gable roof overhang is one of the trickiest parts to building any gable roof.The width of the overhang determines one of two methods used to frame the overhang. The wider the eave the more support it will need to keep from sagging over time.

Hip Roof Framing

Framing a Hip Roof

Framing a hip roof may look difficult, but with the information presented here you should be able to frame a simple one.Just like a gable roof, hip roofs are made up of common rafters plus, hip and jack rafters.

Hip Roof Framing Parts

Just like any other type of roof, hip roof framing starts by figuring the length and cutting a common rafter. The common rafter will determine the height and length of the ridge board which will establish where the hip rafters are located.

Hip Rafter Length

Correct hip rafter length can easily be determined with the use of a Construction Master Calculator. If you enter the right information there is no need to shorten the rafter half the thickness of the ridge board.

Dropping Hip Rafters

Dropping hip rafters is required to get the jack rafters to plane into the hip properly.

Cutting Hip Rafters

I prefer to only load one hip on the cutting horses at a time and cut them individually because of their size and the complexity of the layout procedure.

Hip Roof Ridge Board Length

While the ridge board length on a gable roof is simple, a hip roof is only slightly more difficult to figure. A gable ridge is the same length as the building plus the overhang on either end. A hip roof ridge is the width of the structure, plus the thickness of the ridge board, subtracted from the buildings length.

Pyramid Roof Framing

Pyramid roof framing on a square shaped building is as easy as cutting any normal hip roof. The only difference is a hip roof has a ridge board and a pyramid does not.

Sheds

Planning to Build a Shed

The first and most important step to build a shed is the planning part, without a good plan you probably won't be very happy with your shed in the end.

Math Used in Carpentry

Carpentry Math
Carpentry math ranges from simple addition and subtraction to trigonometry, geometry, and Pythagorean Theorem

Pythagorean Theorem and Carpentry
The Pythagorean Theorem makes carpentry so much easier when it is used for squaring walls, foundations, and roof framing.

Exterior Doors

Installing Exterior Doors
Step by step instructions for installing exterior doors including wood, fiberglass, and steel pre hung doors.

Carpentry Tools

Basic Carpentry Tools
Here you will find a list and short description of basic carpentry tools used in modern house framing.

Chalk Line Clamp

I'm for anything that makes my job easier. The chalk line clamp invented by Albert Cruz of Kansas does just that. I've been at this for nearly thirty years, and had accepted the fact that a slipping chalk line was just part of the job.

Cordless Power Tools for Carpenters
When purchasing cordless power tools it is important to be well informed. Would you rather purchase a Chinese or Swiss drill?

Carpentry Terms

Common Carpentry Terms
A lot of the carpentry terms and definitions vary from region to region and sometimes from town to town.

Related Sites

Related Sites
These sites are related to the house framing industry.

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