As a general contractor (GC), you will need to select your framer who will build the exterior structure of your home.
When choosing your framer, make sure your framer has at least 2 people working on each house you frame. The job will go faster if 2 works on the floors and walls. Roof joists generally require 3 people plus the joist delivery man.
You’ll want to sign your contract with your framer and then start calling him when the foundations and foundations begin. Or if your calendar is 3 weeks away, start calling at least 3 weeks before you need it.
Always have something scheduled in advance so that you are pressuring the sub to get in, finish, and get out as quickly as possible. This applies to all phases of your home construction project, but especially early on.
Sometimes substitutes come in and start work in the morning and then go on to another job. That’s not bad, but you have to watch that it doesn’t happen too much. Certain tasks need more hands and therefore the general framer will call another team to come help out on a particular job (such as framing which requires at least 3). Generally, two people can frame most of your house, if it is a modest house.
Find a framer who says they will finish the job within a specific time, say a month or three weeks. Put it in writing! In your contract, even specify that for each day over that deadline, you’ll have a deduction from your pay if framing isn’t completed by that day.
I saw that happen to an outside subcontractor that cost him $100 a day for two months (yes, $6,000), just because the cement people took longer than expected. I thought $100 was unusually high, so I didn’t include a clause like that in my contracts with my understudies. However, in hindsight, I should have, as it would have saved me thousands of dollars on the construction of our new home.
Ask your inspector in town if they know of the framer you’re considering using. Inspectors won’t tell you who to use, but you can tell them if they know the contractor and what kind of work they do. If the inspector doesn’t know the contractor you’re thinking of hiring, stay away and keep looking unless he’s sure of his work.
Our city building inspector warned us not to pay our chosen framer until his job was done. The inspector’s last words were “…be careful.” This was a warning that served us well, as we refused to pay our surrogate until the terms of the contract with him were fulfilled. It is quite common for some of the subcontractors to do only part of the work and then ask to be paid for all or most of the work.
Subscribers will often tell you that they have to pay for your help, so they NEED to be paid NOW. Once they have your money, sometimes they will never finish their work again. Remember: as long as you control the strings of the bag, a subcontractor can’t walk away if he wants to get paid. Make sure your contract is specific as to how much they must do before you get paid. You can even pay as sections are completed.
Framing a house is when the most incredible things can happen when you see your home materialize into a real structure. You are most vulnerable at this point. If the framer does only a mediocre job, then as long as you have the money, you can insist that he correct or finish whatever he is missing or hasn’t completed in that part of the build.
If necessary, have someone who knows the home building business come in to look at your project and help you determine the things you should be concerned about.
Get to know your city inspector and even offer to pay him if necessary, to come see the house during the framing. He will be able to tell you what to watch the builders on. This will convince you that the writers are doing things right.
Framing consists of three basic steps.
- floor joists
- Walls
- trusses
1. Floor joists
Today floor joists are engineered joists, rather than simple 2×12 joists like our grandparents used to use. These joists continue after the sill is placed. Then, a ¾-inch tongue-and-groove chipboard is usually laid over the floor joists to form the subfloor.
Each sheet of chipboard can be glued and nailed or screwed in accordance with local code. This should minimize squeaky floors, although you may still hear some noise on your floor as nails or screws work loose due to heat, cold, or other stresses.
When the framer is installing the subfloor, it’s a critical time for you to inspect your framers at work. Know your local code and make sure writers follow it.
2. Framing the walls
Since exterior walls need cladding, it’s easiest to apply it before the wall is erected vertically. Therefore, your outer walls can be built lying down, and then raised into place. Windows and doors are framed on the wall, but not cut out.
Interior walls are added, which adds extra bracing for the exterior walls, but until you get the roof trusses up, the whole thing could blow away in a nasty wind, if not properly braced.
As the blueprint for your house begins to break through the walls, you will begin to realize the dream you have been having.
3. Roof trusses
It takes 3 men to put up the roof beams, which proves to be a really interesting process. The trusses are lifted into place with a hoist, attached to a special truck. It can lift 4 trusses at the same time.
The soffit and fascia are then framed, then siding is placed over the joists and nailed to code.
Siding is then nailed to the trusses to complete the framing process.
Ultimately, framing the house is done in the three stages mentioned above and can be done fairly quickly, compared to finishing the house. It is definitely an exciting time in the construction of the structure. Understanding the process for overseeing the total construction of a home is necessary when you are acting as a general contractor on your home.