Carpentry

Lumber
Types of wood that are used for framing are known as soft woods and finished woods such as cabinets and trims are known as hard woods. Soft woods that are used in a Lakewood home are Douglas fir, hemlock, Western cedars, spruce, and Ponderosa pine. Hard woods are oak, birch, cherry, maple and ash.

Seasoning Lumber
Seasoning is reducing the moisture content of lumber to the required level specified for its grade and use. In air drying the lumber is simply exposed to the outside air. Lumber is also kiln-dried by placing it in huge ovens. The advantage of kiln-drying lumber is that it creates less defects in the wood than air-drying. At Lakewood our lumber is kiln-dried which is done by keeping the temperature at a low level and adding steam to keep the humidity high. Gradually the temperature is raised while the humidity is reduced. Oriented strand board (OSB) is made up of wood fibers that adhere to each other in suitable resins and glues. The fibers are put down in successive layers arranged at right angles to each other. Today oriented strand board has the strengths that are comparable with plywood; however, the stigma of the earlier wafer bard still follows this material.

The lumber used in a Lakewood home is typically 3/4" tongue and groove strand board on floors, 1/2" board on roof decks. It is also proven to be very reliable as far as reducing squeaks. Using strand board on the roof deck has proven to us to be an excellent material due to its controlled shrinkage and expansion. The shrinkage will typically be anywhere from 1/8" to 1/4" depending on the side that is measured on the plywood. This is controlled by using "H" clips. This material allows for a roof system that will last for many years without the delamination, warping, and uncontrollable expansion that other plywoods have proven to provide. The framing materials such as the joist being a hem fir give us a consistent module, that is material that is all equal in size so that there aren't any dips. This is one of the stiffer soft woods providing longer spans and less deflection (bounce). Using a kiln-dried spruce, pine, or fir that is a stud quality will reduce the number of studs and also provide the structural strengths that are required.

Adhesives and Mastics
Mastics are heavy, pasty type adhesives which are used for wallboard as well as floorings. All Lakewood homes sub-floors are glued as well as nailed. This gluing process provides additional strength to the floor system.

Installing Sill Plate
When installing a sill plate on top of a concrete wall the "J" bolt that is imbedded in the concrete will be located on the sill plate. The plate is then drilled and laid over a sill sealer typically made up of a fiberglass sealer. Lakewood Homes uses only 2x6Ê treated lumber. The lumber is treated for rot and termites. Once the plate is placed on top of the foundation a washer and nut is securely fastened.

Joists
Floor joists are framing members that carry the weight of the floor. They are typically 2 x 10 lumber; however, 2 x 12 or 2 x 8 can be used. The most common spacing for wooden joists is 16" on center' however, 12" or 24" can be used and sometimes doubling up of the joist is done to further stiffen the floor or increase the span. As mentioned, the floors are designed for a specific load that also must be stiff enough to prevent undue bending or vibration. Lakewood uses the newest specifications for lumber because in recent years lumber specifications have changed, which means many of our spans had to decrease or the lumber increase in size.

Cross Bridging
Cross bridging is composed of pieces of lumber set diagonally between the joist to form an X.Ê Its purpose is to hold the joist in vertical position and to transfer the load from one joist to the next. At Lakewood, bridging is installed on all joist spans over 8'; however, there are instances where the cross bridging is not used due to mechanicals going through the joist space. The lower ends of the bridging are not nailed until the sub-flooring is complete or until the under surfaces of the floor are to be enclosed. Solid bridging, as the name implies, consists of sold blocks set between the joists. This is often used in odd size spaces in a run of cross bridging.

Parts of a Roof Frame
A roof is either stick built using ceiling joists and rafters or built with an engineered roof truss. Roof trusses are pre-cut and assembled at the manufacturing plant and trucked to the job. Spacing of wood trusses is typically 24" center. Once the truss is delivered to the job it is lifted into place by a crane.