“Most houses built in this country are a series of tightly-enclosed small boxes arranged in a very orderly, linear fashion within another very orderly, linear box, grouped with other boxes in a very orderly manner on a very linear street. This is one reason we are all so crazy,” says Robert Roskind in his book, Building Your Own House. I agree: there is something unnatural about tightly packed arrangements of boxes.
So why are they built like this? Because homes built in this manner go up quickly, they keep costs down for the contractor. It is hard to hire tradesman to do anything other than build boxes when the cost of labor is so high.
Is this the whole story? Not exactly.
Because most homes are built in this manner—called standard stud construction, its hard to imagine homes built any other way. Before the 20th century, almost all houses were log or post and beam. Post and beam construction, which is sometimes called plank and beam construction, was the dominant form of construction in the US before the introduction of standard stud. Why the change? Standard stud is quicker, easier and cheaper. That’s a shocker. Some craftsmen liken the change to America’s switch from whole grain wheat to white bread.
Post and Beam Construction
Post and beam construction requires large structural framing members placed vertically and horizontally. The vertical timbers are called posts, the supporting horizontal timbers, beams. The load of the roof is carried across the horizontal beams, next over the vertical posts and finally into the ground. In other words, the posts and beams carry the entire load of the structure. Walls simply hang siding, doors and windows. When compared with standard stud, post and beam requires fewer materials because the structure requires fewer, larger framing members. Unfortunately post and beam requires highly skilled and trained joiners. The joints must fit precisely because they carry the entire structure’s weight.
The Switch
At first glance, it seems the quickness and lower skill level required of standard stud fueled the switch. The deeper reason is growth. As cities expand quickly, vertical space becomes more important (think skyscrapers). Post and beam requires longer and stronger framing members to accommodate more floors. Standard stud, on the other hand, simply stacks one story on top of the other.
The Benefits
In residential construction, everything is setup around standard stud. For example:
- The materials are readily available and meet local codes
- Exact cuts are not required. The load is spread over many pieces and many joints. No one joint is essential, so there is a ¼-inch margin of error at each framing stage.
- Most building materials accommodate the standard stud frame spacing (think 4×8 plywood)
- Heaters, ductwork, plumbing, etc. are built to fit between the framing members
Standard stud replaced post and beam (and log) construction because it is quicker, cheaper and makes taller buildings possible. Does this mean it’s the best method for houses? No. Just as whole grain wheat made a comeback, I hope post and beam will too.
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MillerunderSun 02.22.08 at 8:27 am
it nearly looks like a box but when you take your time and look at it - you recognize the beauty of it! http://www.davinci.ie try it