Balloon Frame:
- Earliest wood framing system
- Constructed exclusively of slender, closely spaced wooden members
- Joists = Floors
- Studs = Walls
- Rafters = Roofs
Balloon Frame (Continued):
- No more heavy posts
- One carpenter could move any member used on the job-site
- No more expensive mortise and tenon joinery required
- Joints made quickly with nails
“A man and a boy can now attain the same results, with ease, that twenty men could do on an old-fashioned frame… The balloon frame can be put up for forty percent less money than the mortise and tenon frame.” – G.E. Woodward, 1865
Balloon Frame – Explained:
- Uses full length studs that run continuously for two stories, from foundation to roof.
- Tall hollow cavities however, act like multiple chimneys in a fire and allow fire to spread rapidly through the building
- To combat fire, blocking (firestops) are installed at the second floor plate or on walls taller than 10′ (feet).