Furring
Furring
In light-frame construction, furring strips are long thin strips of wood or metal used to make backing surfaces to support the finished surfaces in a room. Furring refers to the backing surface, the process of installing it, and may also refer to the strips themselves.
Furring strips typically measure 1" x 2" or 1" x 3". They can be laid out perpendicular to studs or joists and nailed to them, or set vertically against an existing wall surface. The spacing between the strips depends on the type of finishing material. Wider spacing is typically used behind the heavy boards that support ceramic tiles. Closely spaced strips are needed for thin panelling or plaster. The use of strips with plaster, however, is called either lath and plaster or wattle and daub.
Metal furring strips can be used in towns where fire-proof supporting elements are required by the local building code. Often called "hat channels" to describe the profile (cross section), they consist of two flanges on each side of a trapezoid shape, 7/8" thick.
Furring is also used to support roof materials and may be seen under barn and shed roofs, but is often replaced in contemporary times by labor-saving plywood. Drywall has become the most common interior wall finishing material and doesn't need furring due to its strength. Furring is still used in remodeling work to fill out uneven sections for resurfacing, or to add room for insulation.
"Firring" is a U.K. term for wood strips which are usually 50 mm wide, tapered and fixed above wood roof joists to provide drainage falls below roof boarding.
Furring strips themselves are typically referred to as "battens" in the U.K..
Framing
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.
Wattle and Daub
Wattle and daub (or wattle-and-daub) is a building material used for making walls, in which a woven lattice of wooden strips called wattle is daubed with a sticky material usually made of some combination of wet soil, clay, sand, animal dung and straw. Wattle and daub has been used for at least 6,000 years, and is still an important technique in many parts of the world. Many historic buildings include wattle and daub construction, and the technique is becoming popular again in more developed areas as a sustainable building technique.
The wattle is made by weaving thin branches (either whole, or more usually split) or slats between upright stakes. The wattle may be made as loose panels, slotted between timber framing to make infill panels, or it may be made in place to form the whole of a wall.
Daub is generally created from a mixture of certain ingredients from three categories: binders, aggregates and reinforcement. Binders hold the mix together and can include clay, lime, chalk dust and limestone dust. Aggregates give the mix its bulk and dimensional stability through materials such as earth, sand, crushed chalk and crushed stone. Reinforcement is provided by straw, hair, hay or other fibrous materials, and helps to hold the mix together as well as to control shrinkage and provide flexibility. The daub may be mixed by hand, or by treading - either by humans or livestock. It is then applied to the wattle and allowed to dry, and often then whitewashed to increase its resistance to rain.