Q: I’m going to build a room addition because moving to a bigger home is out of the question. I’v e never done rough framing for a subfloor, and I need a quick tutorial on the top things one should ...

Last week, I was downloading some photos from my fancy digital camera, and I stumbled across hundreds of forgotten photos I shot while my daughter’s new home was being built on Mt. Desert Island in ...

I-joists are strong, lightweight, "I" shaped engineered wood structural members that meet demanding performance requirements. I-joists are comprised of top and bottom flanges that resist bending and ...

I’m sure you’ve driven across or seen large steel truss bridges that are made by combining any number of huge steel beams into right triangles that interconnect. When viewed from the side they look ...

In this episode, we complete the last saddle notches and finish hewing the two eave logs flat. We construct and install 8 floor joists for the second floor, preparing to start building the roof. We ...

For years, the steel joist industry standard has been that loads either need to be applied at panel points, or a member brace (strut) must be added in the field. In response to inquiries from ...

Ordinary, or Type III, construction is common in many cities that were part of the industrial revolution in the early 1900s. For this reason, it has been given the label of being the classic ...

Cold floors are more than an annoyance under your feet; they are a clear sign that heat and money are leaking out of your ...

You may be like most folks. I’m guessing you give very little thought to the stairs you go up and down on a regular basis. They might be constructed from wood, steel, or concrete. The vast majority of ...

Q: Should we insulate the rim-joist cavities of a crawlspace foundation? I am a builder, and where I live the codes require insulation, but I have discovered that the insulation causes decay and mold ...

Q: Several years ago when I purchased my home I had the home inspected by a professional home inspector. Now that I'm moving on the buyer had the home inspected by a different person. The second ...