As the sawmill became mechanically more rapid, and as nails were being turned out by machines more plentifully, the Yankee who went West on adventuresome trips, and cared little for a permanent dwelling, devised a system of light-frame construction which became known as the [balloon-frame]. This was put together with the greatest speed, and required only nails for fastening all joints. The timbers which were used were standardized to one size, namely, 2 inches by 4 inches.
CORNER CONSTRUCTION OF BRACED-FRAME
MORTICE & TENON JOINTS
Now, both of these types had advantages and disadvantages which were bound to influence later builders. Those who had been accustomed to build according to the braced-frame system found that lumber was becoming scarcer, and that nails were cheaper than they formerly were. Certain features of the [balloon-frame] appealed to them, such as its greater speed of construction, its smaller timbers, and lightness. On the other hand, those people who had lived in houses constructed according to the balloon system of framing found that they were very flimsy, that fires quickly consumed them, that rats and vermin could travel freely through the walls, and that, after all, they were only the most temporary sort of shelter. These folks looked back at the old methods of building, and saw the good features of solidity and permanence. We had, therefore, the growing together of the two systems of construction into a type which we call the combination-frame dwelling.
| BALLOON-FRAME | COMBINATION-FRAME |
However, progress did not stop at this point. The houses built according to this newly devised system were found to settle unevenly, which cracked plaster ceilings and walls and made doors and windows into leaning parallelograms. The cause of this was found to be due to the natural shrinkage of wood as it dried out. Now, all wood shrinks mostly across the grain, and not with it, so that the amount of settlement of any wooden wall depends upon the amount of cross-section of wood which it contains. If there is more in the interior partitions than in the exterior, it is certain that the floor-joists will settle down on the inside ends more than the outside. This is exactly what happened. It occurred not only in the combination-frame but in the braced and balloon frame. Various devices were introduced to avoid this defect, but all were more or less incomplete. Nevertheless, it all led gradually to the development of the fourth type of construction, which is called the platform-frame, for lack of a better name. This frame solves the problem of uneven settlement in the wooden structure. It also makes the location of the windows of the second floor independent of those of the first floor, which is not the case with the balloon-frame, for in this type the studs extend in one piece from the sill to the plate, requiring the centring of the windows of the second floor over those on the first.
The methods which are used in constructing the small house of to-day are not as simply classified as the previous description would lead one to believe. The old New England braced-frame has practically gone out of existence, yet many of its features remain. The balloon-frame is used only in the cheapest sort of structures, yet many of its details are found in the modern dwelling; The combination-frame in all its many varied forms can be called the advanced type.