Jul 01 2008
Finding Value in Advanced Framing Techniques
There don’t seem to be too many reasons not to use advanced framing techniques. The more technical name for this is Optimum Value Engineering (OVE) and while not a radical departure from typical framing it can take some special focus to pull it off. Framing crews who work while they sleep will have to wake up for at least one building in order to catch on.
This all starts at the design phase where the building is designed in two-foot increments since building materials are manufactured to those dimensions. Then you eliminate double top plates by framing everything in line - studs over studs, rafters/trusses over studs. Corners are built with two studs (as in the detail shown here) and you use insulated headers on exterior walls and no headers on non-load-bearing interior walls. Another important difference is using ladders at the point where interior walls intersect exterior walls (also shown in the diagram here).
Framing walls at two feet on center eliminates a number of studs thereby increasing the insulation in the wall. In some jurisdictions you might not be able to do this but in many others you can incorporate straps and ties to help with seismic loads and high winds.
Besides the comparisons from the DOE in the details shown here you could save up to 41 cents or more on materials per square foot using these techniques. Labor cost savings once crews are up to speed could be as much as five percent and the annual heating and cooling costs of the building could be five percent lower than with traditional framing.
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