The residential construction material most commonly used above grade in the United States is light-frame wood. Many elements of a home work together as a system to resist lateral and axial forces imposed on the above-grade structure and transfer them to the foundation. The above-grade structure also helps resist lateral soil loads on foundation walls through connection of floor systems to foundations.

Our framing design services of the above-grade structure involve the following structural systems and assemblies: floors, walls, and roofs. Each system can be complex to design as a whole; therefore, simple analysis usually focuses on the individual elements that constitute the system. In some cases, “system effects” may be considered in simplified form and applied to the design of certain elements that constitute specifically defined systems. With this in mind our Engineers will closely analyze the Structural elements that make up a residential structural system.

→ Bending members

→ Columns

→ Combined bending and axial loaded members

→ Sheathing (i.e., diaphragm)

→ Connections