Every builder is different in how they build the inside of the house. Some builders
will complete everything they can as they are building the exterior walls. Others will
wait until after the house is under roof. We chose to wait until after the house was
under roof as we figured then we could work in any weather. We thought that if we worked
on the inside items before we had the roof on, we could get delayed due to the weather.
Here is the kitchen soffit on the floor after it was assembled
What exactly is rough framing inside the house? For our house, rough framing consisted
of anything that needed to be built that was not necessary to support the house.
All of the interior walls that were not load bearing or did not have plumbing, heating
or electric running through it now had to be built. Walls that will form the pantries,
walls to separate closets, etc. Also included in this is the base board blocking. Base
board blocking is simply a small 2x4 that is placed in the corners of where two walls make
a 90 degree angle. This is so that once the drywall is put on the walls, you will still
have something to nail the base board to in the corners. Curtain rod blocking is something
simular. On both sides of every window, you should but a couple of small 2x4's so that if
want to add curtain rods in the future, you will have something solid behind the drywall to
screw into.
When the drywallers hang the ceiling drywall, they need something on all four sides to screw
the drywall into. The roof trusses on the second floor and the floor trusses on the first
floor provide most of what they need. However, any walls that run parallel to the roof or
floor trusses will not have anything which the drywall can be screwed into. You can get
around this problem by adding a 2x6 to the top of the wall so that an inch will be hanging
over on both sides of the wall(this example is for a 2x4 wall). If the roof or floor truss
rests directly on top of a wall and the wall runs parallel with the truss, then you will not
be able to put a 2x6 on top of the wall. You will need to nail a 2x4 flat against the floor
or roof truss.
Above each of the stairways, most people have a slanted ceiling. Generally the stairs going
to the second floor is directly over the stairs going to the basement, so the drywall on the
first floor can be attached directly to the stair stringers on the stairs going to the second
floor. On the second floor however, you will need to frame in the area above the stairs so
that the ceiling will slanted. Depending on what you plan to do with the area above the
stairs, will decide how you frame it in. If you are planning to have the area as dead space
or maybe a small linen closet that no one will be walking into, then you can build the frame
with minimal bracing. However, if you plan to walk in the area, you need to frame in the area
so that it will support both you and the items that will be stored there.
The kitchen is another area which may require some framing depending on how your cabinets will
will be arranged. Some people have cabinets that go all the way to the ceiling. In this case,
no framing is necessary. Some people have the cabinets stop a foot from the ceiling so that they
may display plates or use the area as a plant shelf. We decided against both of these options and
framed in the area above the cabinets so that they fit underneath a ledge in the kitchen. We
built a 14 inch square box 18 feet long out of 1 inch by 1 inch material with cross bracing every
foot or so. Once the box was built, we lifted it to the ceiling and attached it to the ceiling
and wall, this area above the cabinets is called soffit and is different than the soffit that allows
air to flow into the attic.
The final framing task that had to be completed inside was the area over each of the doors and
windows. Headers were discussed on earlier pages, but to briefly recap, headers are the supporting
frames that are above the doors and windows and usually consist of 2x4's through 2x12's depending on
the size of the door or window. There are different ways that you can build headers. One way is build
headers using 2x4's(or the correct size board based on the length of the door or window) by placing two
boards with the wide part of the boards flat against each other. Normal 2x4's are 1-1/2 inches thick
and when two 2x4's are placed together, they create a board that is three inches thick. A normal 2x4 is
3-1/2 inches wide so if a header is placed on it's edge and it is flush with the outside of a wall, on
the inside the wall the header will be a 1/2 inch shorther than the wall. Once the house is under roof,
someone can come along and nail 1/2 inch strips of OSB along the header and fill in the gap. The other
way is to cut strips of 1/2 OSB while you are building the headers and create a sandwhich consisting of
a 2x4, OSB strip and another 2x4. This will create a header that is 3-1/2 inches wide and will not need
any work later on. The first method saves you time when you are framing the house and allows you to get
under roof quicker, however you have to spend some time later adding the OSB strips. The second method
saves time later and allows you to work on other tasks, however, it takes longer to get the house under roof.