System Evaluations & Specifications: Advanced Header Framing Design for High-R Wall Systems

Published Thursday, December 31, 2009

Advanced wall framing designs for residential construction have centered on reducing the framing factor of the wall system to allow more area for insulation materials. While maintaining structural performance characteristics, use of advanced framing techniques can reduce the lumber member count and the overall area of the wall that is made up of primarily solid wood components. These wood components have a lower insulating capability than insulation materials by a factor of three or more. Advanced framing techniques include a combination of details, any number of which may be used together to form the advanced framing system. One such advanced framing detail is the header design. Headers are structural members that support wall, floor and roof loads that fall over top of an opening below (e.g. window) and are designed to carry the load that would have been carried by a solid wall framing member or members. Headers are typically located directly over an opening and supported by framing members such as jack and king studs.

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