AMI - home inspection sample - Framing

Rule #65 of home inspections: If anyone *can* do their own framing work, anyone *will* do their own framing work.

We’ve all heard about the “good bones” of a house, and well, the framing members are quite literally the bones of the house. Here a homeowner has installed a new window in a wall but failed to install a header across the opening to support the floor joists above. Over time the weight of the joists may cause the doubled-up 2x4s installed flat to sag. This can create problems with the window and can result in visible deflections in the floor or walls above. A proper installation would have a properly sized header – probably a 4×6 or 4×8 in this case.