This article describes and illustrates common building framing materials used in different epochs of residential construction.

Knowing when certain materials were first or last in common use can help determine the age of a building.

The age of a building can be determined quite accurately by documentation, but when documents are not readily available, visual clues such as those available during a professional home inspection can still determine when a house was built.

Page top sketch courtesy of Carson Dunlop Associates, a Toronto home inspection, education & report writing tool company [ carsondunlop.com ].

Building Framing Methods as Indicators of Building Age

Discussed here: How to determine the age of a building from the construction or framing methods used - Building framing eras: log homes, balloon framing, platform framing, arkansas framing, modular construction, panelized construction, straw bale - construction, welded wire construction, roof & floor trusses, engineered lumber construction

- Leavittown and development of mass-produced pre-cut platform framed homes - Building component age: construction materials, methods, including hardware, saw cuts, and other details can help determine when a building was constructed or when it was modified.

Building methods and building materials should be considered together as the materials available for construction largely defined the building methods used.

In very general terms, in North American building construction, later than in Asia and Europe, evolved through log construction, rough cut hand hewn beams and plank construction, sawn lumber, machine sawn lumber, dimensional lumber, factory-produced lumber and sheathing, and engineered wood products such as laminated beams and factory-built trusses.

Article Contents

• ARKANSAS FRAMING
• BALLOON FRAMING
• CELOTEX CemestO BOARD HOMES 1940s
• DIMENSIONAL LUMBER
• ENGINEERED WOOD CONSTRUCTION
• KIT HOMES, Aladdin, Sears, Wards, Others
• LOG HOME CONSTRUCTION
• MODULAR CONSTRUCTION
• PANELIZED CONSTRUCTION
• PLANK HOUSES
• PLATFORM FRAMING
• POST & BEAM CONSTRUCTION
• PRE-CUT LUMBER CONSTRUCTION & LEAVITTOWN - separate article
• STRAW BALE CONSTRUCTION - separate article
• WELDED WIRE SANDWICH FRAMING
• Logs, various sizes, chopped, dried, assembled at the building site: Log framing and both modern and antique log construction are discussed
  
  at LOG HOME GUIDE.
  
  Also see ANTIQUE & OLD LOG CABINS
  
  and VERTICAL LOG WALLS ON CABINS & HOMES.
• Hand hewn beams, chopped and then sized with an adze and axe. Adze cuts and axe cuts are normally visible in the rough surface of hand hewn wood structural beams.
  
  - see POST & BEAM CONSTRUCTION
• Hand split or rough hewn planks used for building structures -
  
  see PLANK HOUSES
• Full-sized 2"x4" (or larger 2 x n") wood framing materials -
  
• Modern wood framing wall studs 2x4's (3.5" x 1/5") and larger members (x" deep by 1.5" thick)
  
  See ARKANSAS FRAMING
  
  See more details at
  
  BALLOON FRAMING and
  
  PLATFORM FRAMING
• Tongue and groove wood subflooring, wall sheathing, roof sheathing
• Plywood subfloors, wall sheathing, roof sheathing -
  
  see PLYWOOD Roof, Wall, Floor Decks & Sheathing and
  
  see FIRE RETARDANT PLYWOOD
• Oriented-strand board subflooring, wall sheathing, roof sheathing -
  
  see OSB SHEATHING
• Engineered lumber such as Glulam™ beams; large timbers are built-up of laminated wood strips -
  
  see GLULAM BEAMS

Arkansas framing system

2x6 wall studs are spaced 24' on center, a spacing that permitted installation of more wall insulation volume than provide by conventional 2x4 wall studs.

The Arkansas building framing method became popular in North America following the 1970's arab oil embargo and addressed concern for high energy costs. You might read about Arkansas framing or OVE - optimum value engineering, just about the same design idea that was promoted by the Small Homes Council, SHC, now renamed the Building Research Council.

Modern wood framing uses sill plates, rim joists, floor and ceiling joists, wall studs, and rafters made from dimensional lumber, nominally 2x4's (3.5" x 1/5") and larger members (x" deep by 1.5" thick), spaced 16" on center or in some cases using 2x6 wall studs, 24" o.c.

See BALLOON FRAMING and

See PLATFORM FRAMING

Balloon Framing Building Construction Method History & Dates

Balloon Frame construction (1833 - est) tall wall studs run from the sill plate atop the foundation wall to the top plate below the building rafters.

Wall studs and first floor joists rest on the building sill plates (flat wood members set atop the building foundation). The wall studs extend from the first floor sill to a height sufficient to frame both the first and second floor walls.

First floor joists and second floor joists in a building constructed using the balloon framing method are framed by nailing to these tall wall studs at the appropriate heights.

Our photo (above left) of a (mostly) balloon-framed multi-floor building (at an airport in Newburgh, NY), shows that the first two floors were balloon-framed and then the building was extended upwards with additional platform construction.

Rafters in balloon framed buildings attach to the top plate of the building walls. Ceiling joists for the top floor are nailed to the sides of the balloon-framed wall studs just as the floor joists were nailed below.

Perhaps the earliest known balloon-framed building was St. Mary's Roman Catholic Church constructed in Chicago by the fall of 1833. (Walker Field, Chicago Historical Society). Sketch above, courtesy of Carson Dunlop Associates, a Toronto home inspection, education & report writing tool company [ carsondunlop.com ].

According to some histories, balloon framing got its name from people who feared that the dimension-lumber built structure was so flimsy that it was as weak as a hot air balloon, held together by ropes and cloth - a structure that would blow down at the first wind.

That event did not happen, however.

Fred T. Hodgson's 1883 Practical Carpentry contains one of the earliest (and minimal) references to balloon framing.

Hodgson later promoted the balloon framing method for the Sears Roebuck Company. See our references at America's Favorite Homes.

By 1869 balloon framing was in extensive use in North America; in that year G.E. Woodward, in his Woodward's Country Homes described balloon framing as a method for constructing a building at 40% less cost than by using the post and beam (mortise and tenon) method.

Engineered Wood Framing Methods

I'm reluctant to define "engineered wood construction" narrowly, as experts have by one means or another constructed trusses and other wood structural members using analysis and calculations for centuries. But to distinguish between older and modern or more contemporary engineered-wood construction products we list examples below.

And certainly there are some engineered wood products that, compared with an antique king-truss, are relatively new. 5

For example, as we discuss at I-JOISTS, engineered wood floor trusses (photos above and below) such as I-Joists originally were constructed using a plywood web beginning in 1977, and modified by by Trus-Joist in 1969 to use laminated veneer lumber (LVL) and OSB-like laminated wood fiber web (shown in photos above left and below in combination with a steel beam).

See these examples of contemporary engineered-wood construction materials:

• COMPOSITE DECK BOARDS
• DEFINITIONS of ENGINEERED WOOD OSB LVL etc
• HDO Plywood
• I-JOISTS, FLOOR & ROOF
• LOG HOME GUIDE
• LVL Laminated Veneer Lumber, Beams
• MDO Plywood
• OSB - Oriented Strand Board
• PSL Lumber
• STRESS SKIN / STRUCTURAL INSULATED PANELS (SIPs)
• SYNTHETIC & COMPOSITE DECK BOARDS
• TRUSSES, FLOOR & ROOF
• WOOD FOUNDATIONS

Log Home Building Construction Methods, History, & Dates

Log homes (1640 - est U.S.): solid logs usually felled and prepared at or close to the building site, set on ground level, on flat stones on ground, or on a stone foundation, corners joined using various notch and overlap methods.

Above: a log home on the Susquehanna River in Pennsylvania, inspected by the author.

See LOG HOME GUIDE

Log homes were first constructed in North America by Swedes who had immigrated to Pennsylvania in the 1640's. After 1970 most log homes constructed in the U.S. used factory-cut and milled logs and log kit homes.

Kit home logs, unlike their more rough ancestors, are milled to consistent diameters and use various spline and gasket methods to seal joints between horizontal and vertical members.

See ANTIQUE & OLD LOG CABINS

Pre-manufactured log homes and log home kits are provided by a variety of manufacturers in the U.S. and Canada. Slab-sided log look-alike homes combine the appearance of a log home with conventional wood framed structures.

See SLAB LOG CABIN SIDING for details of this construction method.

Also see LOG CABIN STYLES.

Modular Construction Methods Defined & Described

Above: the fourth section of a modular home being set, inspected by the author in New York state.

Modular construction (1910 - present) was first provided on a large scale with Sears Kit homes that were distributed from about 1910 to 1940 -

see SEARS KIT HOME IDENTIFICATION.

Some modern modular homes built in the U.S. during the 1950's post war building boom originally enjoyed a less than stellar reputation several decades ago, having the reputation of flimsy construction.

That is no longer the case. Since at least the 1980's a modular home is constructed in a factory of one or more sections which are carried to the building site on a trailer (photo above left) and lifted by a crane to be set upon a foundation which has been prepared ahead of time.

Our photo shows an easily-recognized hinged roof truss design used in modular construction. On many modular homes the roof is folded down onto the top of the upper floor building sections during transport.

During the modular building section set procedure the roof section is elevated and support, typically by a knee wall, is placed into position. In our photo you can see the plywood gusseted hinges at the lower end of each rafter.

Modular homes can be quite large, involving four or quite a few more individual sections which are lifted and "set" into place at the site (photo at left)

Some manufacturers provide custom architectural services and can deliver unique, but factory-built homes in sections. Contemporary modular construction of homes have these attributes:

For full details about modular home construction and inspection, including how to recognize details that indicate that modular construction methods were used to make a factory-built home, see our full text article

at MODULAR HOME CONSTRUCTION.

Question: how to replace ceiling covering in a Wasau modular home

Sep 7, 2016 Is you web site still active and may I ask a question ? We have a 1980 Wasau Modular home and need to upgrade the ceiling board that is in it. we want to hang drywall on the ceiling and are not sure if the structure will hold the weight.

I have contacted the manufacturer but they offered no information. could you give me any information ?
- Anonymous by private email.

Reply: Determine existing framing materials & spacing, identify existing ceiling materials, get expert advice

About replacing the ceiling coverings in your home, having not a shred of specific information about your home, I can only speculate very generally and pose some questions that would enable an actual answer to your own question.

Which ceilings do you want to replace? Uppermost floor or the ceiling of a lower floor. Framing in those two areas may be different as I'll elaborate below. What is the present ceiling material installed? Not drywall?

IF weight of ceiling coverings is not an issue it's usually simplest to install a layer of thinner, light-weight drywall directly over the existing material. Generally, conventional building framing of walls, ceilings, floors, has no trouble supporting drywall. But if lightweight trusses were used, adding weight to the bottom chord of such trusses that must support a ceiling might be a concern.

To decide how to proceed (remove and replace or laminate over the existing ceiling) you can:

1. Identify the framing plan for the building or at least for the ceiling you've got. Inspect from an attic, for example. I would like to see photos of the framing method used and I'd like to see sharp photos of the existing ceiling material as well as any identifying markings or stampings (perhaps from the attic side) if it's not drywall.
2. Identify the present ceiling materials. Be sure to note how the ceiling is attached. Often in modular construction drywall covering ceilings and walls is both glued and screwed in place, sometimes in double layers on walls, making demolition more troublesome.
3. If the ceiling framing and materials are not normal residential construction materials and strength then you need
   1. Advice from the original manufacturer or
   2. you'll need an on-site structural engineer who is familiar with residential construction and with the construction of your home.

An upper floor ceiling or a scissors-truss or truss-framed uppermost ceiling may be hung from the bottom chord of roof trusses, typically 2x4 or less often 2x3 materials. It is possible that the manufacturer used a lightweight ceiling board rather than drywall in that case.

Lower floor ceilings that are attached to the framing of floors above are more likely framed with floor joists or wooden I-trusses all of which would normally support the weight of drywall.

You'll see at MODULAR HOME CONSTRUCTION that often the strength of modular homes is actually greater than site-built "stick-built" homes as the modular sections had to be able to tolerate being lifted by a crane, driven down a highway, then be lifted again to set in place.

If you can identify the model of your 1980 home and if you do not yourselves have the framing plans for the home, Wasau can probably provide that information, but a simpler approach that should suffice is to actually look at the building framing for the ceilings of concern.

Wasau modular homes has been around since the 1960's and is still in business. I'm surprised that you could get no help from the company - perhaps you need to get someone different on the telephone.

• Wausau Homes, P.O. Box 8005, Wausau, WI 54402-8005 Tel: 1-800-455-0545 Website: http://www.wausauhomes.com/ has been

Panelized Building Construction Defined & Illustrated

Panelized construction: floor and wall panels constructed in a factory are delivered to and assembled at the building site. Panels may be conventionally-framed stud walls in modular sections or structural panels may be constructed of a sandwich of OSB (oriented strand board), plywood, or wafer board on either side of solid foam board insulation.

Panelized construction makes use of wall, floor, ceiling or roof "panels" which have been framed off-site and brought to the site by truck.

Panels are lifted into place by crane and fastened together on a foundation, and possibly a framed-in floor which have been prepared before the panels arrive.

Small panels for some kit homes (left) were light enough to be lifted into place by two workers.

Some framing panels make use of special materials, such as plywood and foam roof panels for insulated cathedral ceilings.

Please see PANELIZED CONSTRUCTION for our full article on panelized home construction history, identification, construction methods, and other photographic details.

Plank Houses or Box House Construction Method Defined & Described

Above: a Yurok plank house.

Details about plank house construction & box house construction are

at PLANK HOUSES. Excerpts are below.

Among the Yurok Tribe living in the Pacific Northwest we estimate that hand-split redwood plank house construction dates from before 1500. The thick planks form both the building walls and its supporting structure.

Generally in the U.S., plank house was more widely used between 1880 - 1920, with some plank house construction continuing up to possibly 1950. Plank houses are also referred to as "box houses" in some areasand used more common woods such as oak and pine. [16][17][18][19]

In their most widespread use by Europeans in North America, plank houses were constructed entirely of sawn planks and without the use of larger dimensioned 2x lumber. The photo (above left) shows a plank house constructed by Charlie Frye for the Margaret Keting School in Klamath, CA, a Yurok Tribe facility. The Yurok Tribe is currently [2014] the largest Tribe in California.

Plank house construction methods have not been entirely abandoned, and occasionally continue to be built, as the New York Times pointed out in March 2012.

The Times article describes a plank house constructed in Klamath, California by Willard Carlson, Jr. Carlson's plank house, built for ceremonial uses and named Ah Pah "the beginning of the stairway", follows traditional Yurok Indian design and uses large hand-split solid old-growth redwood planks for the building's walls and roof.

Support the Yurok Ah Pah Project

More information about the Blue Creek Ah Pah traditional Yurok Village can be found at Ah Pah Traditional Yurok Village project - https://bluecreekahpah.org/

Platform Framing Building Construction Method History & Dates

Platform Frame construction (sketch above, courtesy Carson Dunlop Associates ): also called western construction: the most-common residential wood structure framing method in North America.

Our photo below shows typical platform framing from indoors, including an interior wall partition.

A floor is constructed atop of the building foundation, forming the first "platform".

Walls are framed either stud-by-stud vertically as each stud is nailed to a sole plate which in turn was nailed to the floor platform, or wall sections for the first floor are framed flat on the floor (the platform) and tilted up into place.

The next floor (platform) is constructed atop these walls and subsequent walls for the floor above are framed on that second floor platform. Typically each section of framed wall is 8 feet high.

In North America, up to about 1930 it was common for dimensional lumber to be full-sized - a 2x4 was really 2" x 4" in cross section. Modern wood framing wall studs 2x4's (a modern dimensional lumber "two by four" is actually 1.5" thick by 3.5" wide) and larger members (x" deep by 1.5" thick).

See DIMENSIONAL LUMBER for details.

Post and Beam Construction Method Defined & Described - Timber Framing

See our discussion of post & beam construction now found at

POST & BEAM CONSTRUCTION - home

Pre-Cut Homes & Home Kit Construction - Early Mass Produced Housing

Photo above: pre-cut home building materials in Leavittown.

Pre-cut framing describes the use of dimensioned lumber that was pre-cut to standard lengths at the lumber yard where it was produced, then shipped to a building supplier or directly to a building site in order to speed, simplify, and reduce the cost of construction of homes.

Details about the history of use of pre-cut lumber are

at PRE-CUT LUMBER CONSTRUCTION & LEAVITTOWN

Excerpts are below.

Leavittown New York Pre-Cut Lumber Constructed Homes

According to the Leavittown Historical Society, the default of the Strathmore development project by a Rockville Centre Long Island developer in the 1930's Great Depression forced lawyer and real estate investor Abraham Levitt to take over and complete development of the project even though he and his sons were not trained in construction.

That experience led to Levitt & Sons successful bid on a Navy contract to building homes for shipyard workers in Norfolk, VA where they perfected the techniques used for high-speed, low-cost, mass production of homes built in what became Leavittown at the end of World War II.

On Long Island, in Island Trees, a golden nematode infestation that wiped out much of the area's potato crop led to farmers' selling off land in order to survive.

The combination of a surge in demand for housing for returning GI's from WWII, low-cost land on Long Island, and Leavitt & Son's expertise in mass-produced housing formed a perfect marriage when William Leavitt proposed to his father that the Island Trees land be divided into small lots on which could be built modest, inexpensive homes.

In May 1947 the Leavitts announced the plan to mass-produce 2000 rental homes. In two days, 1000 of the proposed homes had already been rented.

In 1949 the Leavitts changed from constructing rental homes to building slightly larger 800 sq. ft. ranch houses that were sold for $7,990. These homes also were constructed on concrete slabs, but incorporated radiant slab heating.

See RADIANT HEAT

The last of the 17,447 Leavittown homes was built in 1951. For a description of the role that this mass-produced housing project played in the American civil rights movement, also see Levittown: Two Families, One Tycoon... by Kushner listed in theReferences or Citations at the end of this page.

Also see LOG HOME CONSTRUCTION (modern log home kits),

and see SEARS KIT HOUSES for a great example of pre-cut constructed homes.

Straw Bale Constructed Homes

See STRAW BALE CONSTRUCTION

Welded Wire Sandwich Framing Panelized Construction

Welded-wire sandwich framing panels: polystyrene or polyurethane foam core insulation is surrounded by a welded-wire space frame.

For full details see our full text article at FRAMING METHODS

and WELDED WIRE SANDWICH FRAMING

...

---

---

ADVERTISEMENT

---

---

Reader Q&A - also see RECOMMENDED ARTICLES & FAQs

Age of a building where ceiling joists run parallel to front and rear eaves-walls instead of standard front-to-back

I own a 2-story colonial style home with center chimney in a suburb of Boston, which was built in 1959-60 by a well known builder in the area. I have found the floor/ceiling joist framing technique to be very odd.

All of the floor and ceiling joists run the long way from side to side instead of front to back. Our home is approximately 25’ deep (front to back) by 45’ long. There appear to be appropriate beams and bearing walls to support the spans.

What is very odd is that joists forming the second floor ceiling and attic floor also run side to side instead of front to back.

I always thought the attic floor joists were required to run front to back to tie the roof rafters.

The only ties appears to be 1x6’s spaced about 4’ apart running front to back and nailed perpendicular to the floor/ceiling joists.

Our roof and walls have no apparent bow, so the technique must work, but I find it very odd. Any insights about framing techniques in the 1950-60’s era? - On 2021-02-08 by David

Reply by (mod) -

David:

As there are good structural reasons for the standard framing practice of running ceiling joists between the tops of front and rear walls that form a house eaves (as opposed as between gable end walls), I think that usually when we find the joists run in the opposite direction it was some special design consideration such as choices of location of supporting interior partitions, or on occasion removal of joists to build a cathedral ceiling.

The case you describe is indeed odd. It would be informative to look very closely at the framing members and nails and building history to see if there have been modifications to the structure.

 

1940's house with clapboards nailed to studs - no sheathing

I have a pre-1940s(?) house. It has feathered clapboard exterior walls nailed directly to the wall studs. The interior walls are a combination of tongue and groove and shiplap nailed directly to the studs. The air cavity is uninsulated and open to the ground since the wall studs extend beyond the floor to the bottom of the joist. There are no base plates or sill plates in the walls. All the wood is cedar and the house was built with square nails.

My suspicion is that the house is a combination of two different structures. There are theee different hardwood floors nailed directly to the floor joist. There is no sheathing, no insulation, no vapor barrier or water barrier. The walls are air dried via the exterior wood - stud - interior wood air cavity that pulls air from under the house and exits via attic ridge vents (new roof and ridge vent). The original attic had gable attic vents, no soffit vents. How old is this house?

What is the construction type called? What is the best method for controlling moisture, mold growth and installing insulation? The house is located in coastal Texas with lots of humidity and heat. - On 2018-11-22 by Andrew
Thanks
IMAGE LOST by older version of Clark Van Oyen’s Comments Box code - now fixed. Please re-post the image if you can. Sorry. Mod.

Reply by (mod) -

Andrew:

Thanks for posing interesting and good questions. Perhaps you'll post additional framing and nail or fastener or other hardware details.

I have in fact worked on and restored very similar homes.

I agree that we should be discussing insulation and placement of vapor barriers.

Coastal TX means predominantly a cooling climate. Vapor barrier would belong on the exterior of the studs.

If you plan to leave the siding in place I'd be thinking about blown in closed cell foam. That would give a moisture-proof wall cavity as well as significantly lowering drafts and cooling costs.

But that plan needs to be part of an overall plan that addresses the whole house - e.g. leaky windows or inadequate roof venting.

About age: age determination by framing methods needs to be adjusted for where in North America the house was built. A home built to 1865 practices in Virginia or New York may be framed the same way in south Texas in 1930.

NO surprise that the house varies in age in different parts.

Typically an older home was first built as a modest one or two story box with a gable roof (in your area) or even a cape, to which later a wing or Tee addition may have been added.

OFten we can see from those details that various house sections were added to an original structure that's the oldest part.

The chimney for example looks modern -wood frame around metal flue, probably for gas furnace, right?

Look further at framing to see if it's balloon framed. Look also at rafter dimensions and spacing and stud spacing. It looks as if the studs in the gable end wall may not be uniformly spaced. Wider over the window where cripple studs were used and maybe 16"o.c. at the window right side.

This is over a crawlspace? Can you see inside under the first floor?

 

How to identify a 1950's Kit House

A friend of mine just had his house remediated for mold. I believe it was a kit home assembled in the 1950's.

The remediation "experts" tore the plywood off the bottom of the floor joists which were of a panelized construction exposing 2" x4" joists 16" oc spanning about 14'. the plywood on both sides appears to be 1/2" I've noticed the floor deflects when you walk on it.

If I talk him in to replacing the plywood that was removed, gluing and screwing the plywood back to the bottom of the floor joists , do you think the integrity will be restored, or were the original panels assembled in way that the damage is irreversible ? I searched a lot of the kit homes and was unable to find the manufacturer.

The house is about 1000sq ft with cathedral ceilings throughout.

I saw the same types of panels used on the roof as well, plywood - 2x4- plywood. The glue used was black in color and after 60 years it firmly bonded the plywood to the roof.

The plywood was bonded to the 2 x4s so well that the plywood glue failed, leaving an exposed ply. Thanks, Bruce - On 2018-10-01 by Bruce

Reply by (mod) -

Bruce

I'd like to see some photos (attach a photo to a comment if you like) of the situation as well as photos of the home and the identifying stamps or marks that tell us whose kit it was.

In general you can glue and screw plywood subfloor for a solid connection to the joists, but just half-inch is going to be inadequate by current standards.

A builder will normally use 3/4" over which a wood floor may be installed, or two layers of 3/4" for a stiff floor if it's to be covered with carpet or resilient flooring.

Under carpet or resilient you'd want to use solid core subfloor so someone's high heel doesn't puncture the floor covering.

If the floor framing is smaller than modern sizes and spans you may want to add cross bracing or other support first.

Age of a home where big beams were used instad of modern dimensional 2x lumber

I bought a home that was built in 1950 and updated.

I had repair upstairs bathroom and remove drywall to install a new valve to bath/shower. I noticed that instead of 2" by 4" used to frame walls there were beams used.

Then on the first floor I removed some drywall and again noticed beams and I did see the 2" by 4" also. Both walls were interior walls.

My question is were beams or thicker wood used to frame out walls? Also, how can I tell if their structural? - Thanks. Gina - On 2017-02-11 by Gina

Reply by (mod) -

Gina

Larger wood framing members might be used in an older home where a wall needed to accommodate larger drain lines than fit into the wall, or perhaps for structural reasons that I can't see by an e-text.

In an interior wall if you see a vertical member that is not connected to the wall top and bottom or is not connected to a horizontal header that in turn connects to adjacent vertical studs or posts that in turn connect to the wall top and bottom, then that member is probably not structural.

Name of fabric on ceilings in a 1930's home

I have a 1930s four square house in Syracuse NY. The plaster in some of the first floor ceilings, and the walls and ceiling in the main bathroom are covered with a heavy fabric.

What is this fabric called? Someone suggested oilcloth? Pls direct me to info. Thanks. MB - On 2016-04-11 by Mike

Reply by (mod) -

Mike:

I don't know, from just your text, what fabric is installed. Common fabrics used on walls and ceilings included canvas, and sometimes linen or burlap. Oilcloth is a cotton-based fabric that has a shiny plastic-like surface - think of old cheap tablecloths.

You're welcome to use our page bottom CONTACT link to send me a photo or two showing the fabric pattern and location and I might have more guesses; ultimately you might need a lab to examine a sample if you really need to identify the material reliably.

Or you can send me sharp photos and / or a sample for examination in our own forensic lab - at no cost to you but postage. - Daniel Friedman

...

Continue reading at FRAMING MATERIALS, AGE, TYPES or select a topic from the closely-related articles below, or see the complete ARTICLE INDEX.

Or see these

Recommended Articles

• AGE of a BUILDING, HOW to DETERMINE - home
• FRAMING AGE, SIZE, SPACING, TYPES
• FRAMING MATERIAL AGE
• FRAMING METHODS, AGE, TYPES
  • KIT HOMES, ALADDIN, SEARS, WARDS, OTHER
  • MOBILE HOMES, MODULARS, PANELIZED, FACTORY-BUILT
  • MODULAR HOME CONSTRUCTION
  • PANELIZED CONSTRUCTION
  • PRE-CUT & KIT HOMES
  • STRAW BALE CONSTRUCTION
  • STRESS SKIN / STRUCTURAL INSULATED PANELS (SIPs)
  • TRUSSES, FLOOR & ROOF
• NAILS, AGE & HISTORY
• SAW & AXE CUTS, TOOL MARKS, AGE for additional building age clues likely to be available when examining building framing materials.

Suggested citation for this web page

FRAMING METHODS, AGE, TYPES at InspectApedia.com - online encyclopedia of building & environmental inspection, testing, diagnosis, repair, & problem prevention advice.

Or see this

INDEX to RELATED ARTICLES: ARTICLE INDEX to BUILDING AGE

Or use the SEARCH BOX found below to Ask a Question or Search InspectApedia

Ask a Question or Search InspectApedia

Questions & answers or comments about how to determine or identify the age of building framing materials & framing methods, connectors, fasteners.

Try the search box just below, or if you prefer, post a question or comment in the Comments box below and we will respond promptly.

Note: appearance of your Comment below may be delayed: if your comment contains an image, photograph, web link, or text that looks to the software as if it might be a web link, your posting will appear after it has been approved by a moderator. Apologies for the delay.

Only one image can be added per comment but you can post as many comments, and therefore images, as you like.
You will not receive a notification when a response to your question has been posted.
Please bookmark this page to make it easy for you to check back for our response.
Our Comment Box is provided by Countable Web Productions countable.ca

Citations & References

In addition to any citations in the article above, a full list is available on request.

---

ADVERTISEMENT

---