Ballooning

 
House #1 has balloon framing.  If you asked me a year ago what balloon framing was I would probably described one of the following:
 

 

 

 

I now know that this is balloon framing:

 

 
 
You can drop a screw in one of these wall voids and it will fall the whole way from the attic to the basement.  Trust me, I have done it.  Not intentionally. 
 
Balloon framing is the style of framing for houses that uses long 2x4 studs that run uninterrupted from the foundation to the roof. 
 
When it first came into use it was a radically different type of construction from the braced frame that preceded it for centuries. The earlier style timber framing used large timbers interlocked with chiseled joints secured with wood pegs. The balloon frame relies solely on nails to secure each piece.
 
There is plenty of debate as to exactly where the first balloon framed house was built and who came up with the idea. Chicago tends to get most of the credit.
 
As this method of construction became more popular, it gradually gained acceptance from designers and was eventually used in the construction of many structural designs of the late Victorian period. It became the most common type of wood-frame construction from about 1890 until around the late 1930s and is found throughout the entire US.
 
This type of framing has survived quite well and certainly filled a need at a time when our nation was rapidly expanding.
 
But a minus, a BIG minus, of this type of framing is its fire hazard potential. In the event of a house fire, wall cavities extending from the foundation to the roof can be an open path for fire to spread quickly, like smoke up a chimney. There have been numerous reports of fires originating in the basement that have been first detected by smoke emitting from the eaves. The spaces between ceilings and floors are also interconnected to the wall cavities, which can allow a fire to quickly spread and possibly cause structural failure to floors without warning.

This is a problem, but not insurmountable. 

A few 2x4s measured to fit, some fire proof caulking, and insulation will solve this problem.

 
With all of the improvements we have made, it would be foolish to skip this step. 

 

It is a tedious step, but a necessary one.  One step closer to insulation and dry wall.