Rough Carpentry or framing as it’s known in the vocation of construction has a large umbrella to cover all aspects. When building forms for a foundation or fabricating a hard lid ceiling in an existing hallway, it’s the gruff area of DIY Carpentry. Using lumber to create the shell structure to cover later in stucco, drywall, siding or the roof over your head was framed by a rough carpenter. 2×4 studs in a wall are just as important as the 2×8’s for roof rafters keeping the weather out and you protected. Framing a redwood deck or constructing an overhead paint grade patio cover. Power tool usage as well as many hand tools in this field can aide the do it yourself carpenter to another job well done.

Framing, in construction known as light frame construction, is a building technique based around structural members, usually called studs, which provide a stable frame to which interior and exterior wall coverings are attached, and covered by a roof comprising horizontal ceiling joists and sloping rafters (together forming a truss structure) or manufactured pre-fabricated roof trusses—all of which are covered by various sheathing materials to give weather resistance.

Modern light-frame structures usually gain strength from rigid panels (plywood and other plywood like composites such as OSB) used to form all or part of wall sections, but until recently carpenters employed various forms of diagonal bracing (called “wind braces”) to stabilize walls. Diagonal bracing remains a vital interior part of many roof systems, and in-wall wind braces are required by building codes in many municipalities or by individual state laws in the United States.

Light frame construction using standardized dimensional lumber has become the dominant construction method in North America and Australia because of its economy. Use of minimal structural materials allows builders to enclose a large area with minimal cost, while achieving a wide variety of architectural styles. The ubiquitous platform framing and the older balloon framing are the two different light frame construction systems used in North America.

Be sure and check your local areas schools for a carpentry training class or carpentry construction coarse, for the thrill of learning the oldest and most gratifying trades in the industry. Learn to build a bench or cut a set of stairs before your next birthday.