CRDConcept: wood frame houses and walls, wood structure

Wood-Frame Construction refers to structural and nonstructural wood elements including: dimensional framing lumber (studs and joists), and glued-laminated or solid sawn wood members and decking not complying with the definition of heavy timber.

Most houses in Canada are wood-frame construction. This method of construction uses lumber 38mm thick, in depths from 89mm to 286mm, and members are spaced at a maximum of 600mm on centre.

Wood-frame construction is generally regulated by Part 9 of the building code, Housing and Small Buildings. However, it can also be used for Part 3 buildings permitted to be of combustible construction.

Though the structure of a modern wood-frame building may be made entirely of wood, protective finishes such as gypsum wallboard can be applied to provide fire resistance where required.

Heavy timber construction is defined as: "a type of combustible construction in which a degree of fire safety is attained by placing limitations on the sizes of wood structural members and on thickness and composition of wood floors and roofs and by the avoidance of concealed spaces under floors and roofs."

Tidbits

The Wood Frame Construction Manual (WFCM) for One- and Two-Family Dwellings 2001 Edition, American Wood Council:

Wood framing accounts for better than 90 percent of all homes built in the US. (Goetzl, A. and D. B.McKeever, 1999, Building codes obstacle or opportunity?)

There are 20 million wood frame houses in North America. (Source at CWC )

The structure built with wood has the lowest environmental impact for all the factors considered. [CWC: Comparing the Environmental Effects of Building Systems (www.cwc.ca/publications/tech_bulletins/tech_bull_4/)

Wood Frame Construction by Toolbase (sold publications)

CWC Design of Wood System at (www.cwc.ca/design/wood_systems/index.html)

An Introduction to the Behavior and Design of Timber Structures at Washington State University, "to aid in the understanding of wood as an engineering material and with the structural design processes used in timber design."

France wood frame is 5% of residential houses.

Most dimension lumber is used for house framing -- joists, rafters, and studs.

Also see:

reference list for structural analysis of wood-framed wall

Web Links (15):

Notes

American Wood Council: "the wood products division of the AF&PA - American Forest and Paper Association.... to increase the use of wood by assuring the broad regulatory acceptance of wood products, developing design tools and guidelines for wood construction, and influencing the development of public policies affecting the use of wood products."
AWC - American Wood Council: "the wood products division of the American Forest & Paper Association. AWC's mission is to increase the use of wood by assuring the broad regulatory acceptance of wood products, developing design tools and guidelines for wood construction, and influencing the development of public policies affecting the use of wood products. "
Canada Plan Service: "a Canada-wide network of agricultural engineers and livestock specialists concerned with the planning, design and construction of modern farm buildings".
CCE - Canadian Consulting Engineer: "a magazine for professional engineers working as consultants in the construction field. Published since 1957, it is the only national engineering magazine in Canada that covers all engineering disciplines and all geographic regions"
CWC publications
CWC-Canadian Wood Council: "the national association representing Canadian manufacturers of wood products used in construction. ... codes and standards, technical information, education programs, and co-ordinating special programs"
Forest Products Lab: "on pulp and paper products, housing and structural uses of wood, wood preservation, wood and fungi identification, and finishing and restoration of wood products."
Forest Products Society - conference and meeting abstracts: Abstracts of many wood related conferences is available in .pdf, in the Conference section.
Forintek Canada: "a world-class research organization committed to the ongoing prosperity of the Canadian wood products sector. "
FPL publications: Large amount of searchable publication database, including Dividends From Wood Research, Durability, and more.
Guide to Wood Design Information: excellent "bibliography of technical wood design information available from the associations of the Wood Products Promotion Council and other cooperating organizations."- by Scott McVicker 1999
Journal of Light Construction, JLC Online: "unbiased coverage of products, materials, and building techniques as well as hands-on management advice". Good articles about all aspects of housing/buildings
NASFA - North American Steel Framing Alliance: "established by the American Iron and Steel Institute in 1998 to rapidly accelerate the use of light gauge steel framing in construction.
Timber Framing web resources by DMOZ: DMOA list of internet resource links related to timber and wood.
wood frame house construction manual: "a step-by-step guide to the erection of our Winter Panel Home shells. The techniques presented here have been tested in the field on many houses. "

Related References (61)

Canadian and German method: A Comparison of Canadian and German Building Methods, Codes and Standards for Wood-Frame Construction, by CMHC, 0
field study of moisture performance: A field study of the moisture performance of roofs of occupied newly constructed timber framed houses, by Cunningham, M.J., M.R. Bassett, D. McQuade, and M. Beckett, 1994
--------: A study of the rainscreen concept applied to cladding systems on wood frame walls, by Morrison Hershfield Limited, 1990
structural performance of single-family, wood-frame housing: A summary of the structural performance of single-family, wood-frame housing, by Yancey, C.W., Cheok, G.S., Sadek, F., and Mohraz, B., 1998
pressure differentials are monitored across/within wood frame wall: Air pressures in wood frame walls, by TenWolde, A., Carll, C. G., and Malinauskas, V., 1998
historic building resurfacing: Aluminum and vinyl siding on historic buildings, the appropriateness of substitute materials for resurfacing historic wood frame buildings, by Myers, J. H., 1984
anchored brick veneer: Anchored brick veneer wood frame construction, by Brick Industry Association, 1991
--------: Atlantic Canada wood framing moisture survey, by Anon, 1990
--------: Building codes obstacle or opportunity?, by Goetzl, A. and D. B.McKeever, 1999
canadian market: Canadian wood-frame house construction, by Lio, M. and Kesik, T., 1997
--------: Carbon dioxide balance of wood substitution: Comparing concrete- and wood-framed buildings, by Gustavsson, L., Pingoud, K., 2006
--------: Common failures in wood structures, by Fisette, P., 1997
with high insulation: Condensation potential in high thermal performance walls -- cold winter climate, by Sherwood, G. E., 1983
permeability of outer and inner layer across cavity: Condensation problems in your house: prevention and solution, by Anderson, L. O. and G. E. Sherwood, 1974
--------: Criteria for unaccesseptable damage on wood systems, by Nofal, M. and M.K. Kumaran, 2002
--------: Development of design strategies for rainscreen sheathing membrane performance in wood frame walls, by Burnett, E. F. P., 2004
wood frame w/ wood siding: Drying capabilities of wood frame walls with wood siding, by Salonvaara, M. H., Ojanen, T., Kokko, E. and Karagiozis, A. N., 1998
drying characteristic, low-rise residential: Drying characteristics in tibmer frame walls of low-rise residential housing, by CMHC, 1988
durability of energy-efficient type: Durability of energy-efficient wood-frame houses, by Smulski, S., 1999
ASTM air retarder: E1677-95(2000) standard specification for an air retarder (AR) material or system for low-rise framed building walls, by ASTM, 2000
woo structure: evaluation, maintenance and upgrading: Evaluation, Maintenance and Upgrading of Wood Structures, by ASCE, 1982
--------: Guidelines for on-site measurement of moisture in wood building materials, by Forintek Canada Corporation, 2001
simulation of room/wall rh in wood walls: Improving indoor climate and comfort with wooden structures, by Simonson, C. J., Salonvaara, M. and Ojanen, T., 2000
light-frame: Light-frame wall and floor systems - analysis and performance, by Sherwood, G.E. and R. C. Moody, 1989
--------: Limiting conditions for decay in wood systems, by Morris, P. I. and Winandy, J. E., 2002
--------: Measurements and two-dimensional computer simulations of the hygrothermal performance of a wood frame wall, by Geving, S., Karagiozis, A. and Salonvaara, M., 1997
--------: Methodology and design of field experiments for monitoring the hygrothermal performance of wood frame enclosures , by Straube, J., Onysko, D. and Schumacher, C., 2002
--------: MEWS methodology for developing moisture management strategies: application to stucco-clad wood-frame walls in North America, by Beaulieu, P.; Cornick, S.M.; Dalgliesh, W.A.; Djebbar, R.; Kumaran, M.K.; Lacasse, M.A.; et al., 2001
--------: Moisture and wood-frame buildings, by CWC, 2000
--------: Moisture behavior of timber-framed external wall structures in Nordic climate, by Vinha, J.O., P. K?kel? and R. Lindberg, 2001
prefabricated, lightweight, wood-based membrane-roof: Moisture conditions of non-ventilated, wood-based, membrane-roof components, by Rode, C., Crhistensen, G. and Vesterlokke, M., 1992
survey of wood-frame house construction problem 1993: Moisture content in Canadian wood-frame house construction problems, research and practise from 1975-1991, by Morrison Hershfield, 1992
--------: Moisture in combined concrete timber-frame walls without vapour barrier, by Stang, B. D., Nicolajsen, A. and Hansen, M. H., 2002
--------: Moisture physical behaviour of wooden structures, by Kokko, E. et al, 1991
--------: Moisture transport in timber-framed external wall structures in Nordic climate - laboratory tests, by Vinha, J., K?kel?, P. and Lindberg, R., 2002
--------: Numerical simulation of mould growth in timber frame walls, by Ojanen, T. and M. Salonvaara, 2000
--------: Objective-based codes for wood frame construction, by Lepper, M. and Jones, E., 2000
--------: Prediction of moisture response of wood frame walls using IRC's advanced hygrothermal model (hygIRC), by Mukhopadhyaya, P. and Kumaran, M. K., 2000
quality assurance protocol: Quality by Design: A Quality Assurance Protocol for Wood-Frame Building Envelopes in British Columbia, by Pro Pacific Architecture Limited, 1999
--------: Report from task 6 of MEWS project -- experimental assessment of water penetration and entry into wood-frame wall specimens, - final report, by Lacasse, M. A., O'connor, T. J., Nunes, S. and Beaulieu., P., 2003
history of US: Review of structural materials and methods for home building in the United States: 1900-2000, by NAHB Research Center, Inc, 2001
rotting apartment: Rotting wood framed apartments -- not just a Vancouver problem, by Chouinard, K. L. and Lawton, M. D., 0
--------: R-values for timber framed building elements, by Williamson, T., 2000
--------: Structural implications of increased panel use in wood-frame buildings , by Morse-Fortier, L. J., 1995
wood frame wall with spray polurethane: Study of the reduced impact of thermal bridges in two sprayed-applied polyurethane wall assemblies, by Derome, D., Desmarais, G., Rao, J., Athienitis, A. and Fazio, P., 1997
air barrier: Testing of air barrier systems for wood frame walls, by Institute for Research in Construction / National Research Council Canada, 1998
--------: The drying potential and risk for mold growth in compact wood frame roofs with built-in moisture, by Geving, S. and Holme, J., 2009
--------: The impact of sorption history and hysteresis on moisture pattern in a wood-framed building envelope, by Derome, D., 2001
drying: The influence of design on drying rates in wood-frame walls under controlled conditions, by Hazleden, D.G. and P.I. Morris, 2001
--------: The moisture performance of framed structures - A mathematical model, by Cunninghama, M. J., 1988
--------: Thermal performance of light-frame assemblies, DESIGN AND COSTING WORKBOOK A guide to single storey commercial wood structures, by CWC, 2002
--------: Understanding biodeterioration of wood in structures, by Morris, P. I., 1998
--------: Variability in energy and carbon dioxide balances of wood and concrete building materials, by Gustavsson, L. S., Sathre, R. S., 2006
window sill: Water flow by means of capillary action, by Air-Ins inc, 1997
--------: WCD 1 - Details for Conventional Wood Frame Construction (formerly the Manual for Wood Frame Construction), by AWC, 2001
wind damage of wood house: Wind damage to wood frame houses: problems, solutions, and research needs, by Liu, H., Saffir, H.S., and Sparks, P.R, 1989
--------: Wind resistance of light-frame structures, by Wolfe, R. W., 1998
construction manual: Wood Frame Construction Manual for One- and Two-Family Dwellings - SBC High Wind Edition, by American Forest & Paper Association, 1995
--------: Wood products used in new nonresidential building construction, by McKeever, D. B. and Adair, C., 1995
--------: Wood-based building components: what have we learned? , by Morrell, J. J., 2002
--------: Wood-based building materials and atmospheric carbon emissions, by Buchanana, . H. and Levineb, S. B., 2007

CRDBER, at CBS, BCEE, ENCS, Concordia, June 2014