4 ms·

Somewhat both. Balloon framing existed for houses when homes were heated with fireplaces and sealing the house could have been potentially dangerous as a result

Somewhat both. Balloon framing existed for houses when homes were heated with fireplaces and sealing the house could have been potentially dangerous as a result.

gfaregan 4y ago
Why would sealing a balloon framed house be dangerous? I know that you need blocking to help stop a fire from spreading between floors.
- ElevenLathe 4y ago
  If you heat with open fireplaces, then you can't seal the house unless you have really really good artificial ventilation (which you don't because it's 1840 still when you're building this house), regardless of how the house is built. A sealed house with a fire burning in it is a suicide machine.
  - throw0101c 4y ago
    > A sealed house with a fire burning in it is a suicide machine. Modern designs use direct vent systems, where instead of using inside air for combustion, they bring in outside air (and then exhaust externally as usual): * https://www.efireplacestore.com/five-things-about-direct-vent-fireplaces.html https://www.efireplacestore.com/five-things-about-direct-ven... The warming of the house occurs via radiant heat and through any conduction of heat via the actual material of fireplace or stove.
    - jefftk 4y ago
      That's not an open fireplace, though? (And so while the house is sealed, the fire is not burning with the sealed boundary of the house.)
PaulDavisThe1st 4y ago
I find the idea that balloon (rather than platform) framing was part of the heating design of a house a little hard to take. The moment we could switch to platform framing, almost everybody did (not least because shorter studs were cheaper). But a balloon framed house with a fire that escaped the fireplace is going to burn only slightly faster than a platform framed house, and the main determinant is not going to be the framing but things like fire-resistant doors and wall finishes.

4 ms·

Somewhat both. Balloon framing existed for houses when homes were heated with fireplaces and sealing the house could have been potentially dangerous as a result

by devonkim 4y ago

Somewhat both. Balloon framing existed for houses when homes were heated with fireplaces and sealing the house could have been potentially dangerous as a result.

gfaregan 4y ago
Why would sealing a balloon framed house be dangerous? I know that you need blocking to help stop a fire from spreading between floors.
- ElevenLathe 4y ago
  If you heat with open fireplaces, then you can't seal the house unless you have really really good artificial ventilation (which you don't because it's 1840 still when you're building this house), regardless of how the house is built. A sealed house with a fire burning in it is a suicide machine.
  - throw0101c 4y ago
    > A sealed house with a fire burning in it is a suicide machine. Modern designs use direct vent systems, where instead of using inside air for combustion, they bring in outside air (and then exhaust externally as usual): * https://www.efireplacestore.com/five-things-about-direct-vent-fireplaces.html https://www.efireplacestore.com/five-things-about-direct-ven... The warming of the house occurs via radiant heat and through any conduction of heat via the actual material of fireplace or stove.
    - jefftk 4y ago
      That's not an open fireplace, though? (And so while the house is sealed, the fire is not burning with the sealed boundary of the house.)
PaulDavisThe1st 4y ago
I find the idea that balloon (rather than platform) framing was part of the heating design of a house a little hard to take. The moment we could switch to platform framing, almost everybody did (not least because shorter studs were cheaper). But a balloon framed house with a fire that escaped the fireplace is going to burn only slightly faster than a platform framed house, and the main determinant is not going to be the framing but things like fire-resistant doors and wall finishes.