Balloon Frame Attic

Queen anne and shingle style buildings are typical examples of balloon framing.

Balloon frame attic.

Not that this is particularly harmful but it s a bit of a waste of cells. In balloon framed walls the studs are continuous from the mudsill all the way to the top plates on the uppermost floor where the rafters rest. The balloon frame uses a continuous wood stud wall member that stretches from the foundation to the attic. Exterior walls are orginal wood lap siding covered with some type of asbestoes siding.

Absolutly no insulation in the walls or between floors. If you look around the edges of the 2nd story subfloor or attic subfloor in a balloon frame house you d be able drop a penny down to the basement in the stud bay. You can see air when you look down where a bottom plate would be. One thing about balloon framing is that you can end up filling the upper floor with cellulose if you don t watch it.

Fyi balloon framing is where the studs go down below the floor joists and sit directly on the sills so that there is no bottom plate. The balloon framing used in houses of that period i lived in one back in cincinnati oh in the 1970 s and 80 s allows water vapor that passes through the plaster and lath to be vented up into the attic of your home. Is anyone aware of any studies science behind this common issue of insulating and old house the proper way. These stud walls are usually 16 inches apart and contain no inherent vertical fire stops.

Balloon framing is a style of wood house building that uses long vertical 2 x 4 s for the exterior walls. In balloon framing the studs vertical members extend the full height of the building usually two stories from foundation plate to rafter plate as contrasted with platform framing in which each floor is framed separately. Once up there it usually was able to dissipate out gable vents or through the roofing. I tried to post a photo but alas.

Otoh my parents had the upper floor of their old farmhouse blown full of cells really cut down on sound transmission a lot. These long studs extend uninterrupted from the sill on top of the foundation all the way up to the roof. Ballon framed two story house with full attic built in 1901. In a balloon frame the 2nd story subfloor is held up on the edges by a ledger board instead of resting on the top plate in a platform frame.

Interior of the outside walls are plaster on lath.