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Balloon framing was a popular
framing technique for suspending second floors onto walls. However over the
years it has faded in popularity and has since been replaced by platform
framing.
Balloon framing involves the use
of long vertical stud members on the exterior walls that run from the sill
plate all the way to the roof. Floor joists are attached to the long wall
studs to create a second floor.
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The floor joists are nailed directly to the long vertical stud members and are
braced underneath with blocking that is attached to the wall studs. In some
cases I have even seen the floor joists attached to the vertical studs via a lap
joint.
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Balloon framing faded in popularity due to fire concerns. The long bays created
between the wall studs raised fire safety concerns. The bays acted effectively
as chimneys to allow fire and smoke to rapidly work its way from the basement of
a home to the upper floors. However, this issue was mitigated by the requirement
of solid blocking between the tall vertical stud members at specific points
along the stud walls.
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Though the fire concerns of balloon framing have been muted, balloon framing
also creates hazards for the framing crew, as the walls are extremely tall and
heavy. In addition, the cost of long studs is more expensive than their shorter
counterparts. For these reasons platform framing has for the most part replaced
balloon framing.
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Additional Framing and Carpentry Resources
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