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Easy House Framing Tips for Kit Homes

Basic kit home building is a breeze and one of the easiest steps in house framing. You may or may not know how to frame a house, but when your prefabricated frame arrives most of the work is already done. By prefabricated, I mean completely built, fully braced, numbered and ready to stand. Modern builders have cottoned on to prefab frames and these days when customers choose timber frame house plans, there's rarely a frame built on site. The frames are built at the factory and importantly, they are built in a squared jig and pre-braced. This also helps to lessen the time it takes to plumb the frames. It doesn't matter if you are building on raised floor systems or concrete slabs, any handyman can frame up a kit home in a matter of days.

Your framing kit will include:

Pre-fabricated and braced stud frames
Ribbon plate timber
Bracing ply
Plate ties
Strap nails
Threaded rod, washers and nuts

The bracing system required is relatively straightforward. The ribbon plate needs to be anchored to the foundations, so a series of bolts and plate ties are installed. A threaded rod is bolted through the frames bottom plate, flooring and bearer. Plate ties brace the bottom and top plates to the studs. In high wind areas, long bolts are inserted from the ribbon plate right through to the bearer.

10 house framing tips

1. Use nail blocks on the floor edge to help push up the frame

2. Snap a chalk line to guide your outer frame edges

3. Plumb the corner frames first and re-brace

4. Ensure frames are plumb & straight using a straightedge, and string line.

5. Plumb the top plates, brace and strapnail before nailing on ribbon plates

6. Make sure rooms are square, especially wet areas.

7. Make sure all joins are nailed

8. Check all wall connections are strapnailed

9. Ensure anchor bolts are tight

10. Check the bracing is complete from ribbon plate to bearer on each frame.

Basic kit homes don't have to be built by builders. The slab or footing engineering, plans, specifications and materials are supplied and you supply the effort. A kit house frame is supplied as part of the 'mechano' like diy system that all handymen and women love. So why not have a go and truly do it yourself.

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