Construction Glossary
Rough Carpentry
Rough carpentry refers to everything involved in the framing of a wood building and includes any carpentry work that won’t be seen when the building is completed.
What Is Rough Carpentry?
Rough carpentry is the framing of a building including studs, joists, rafters, exterior sheathing, and other structural or non-structural wood building elements. Rough carpentry is on both light frame construction projects and heavy timber frame projects.
Example
A four-story multi-family building is constructed as a wood light frame structure. After the foundation is installed carpenters come in to complete the rough carpentry. The carpenters start by creating the subfloor structure, then they erect the first floor walls. After that is complete they add ceiling joists and then the second subfloor, and continue completing the rough carpentry one floor at a time until they reach the roof structure. As they are erecting the framing the carpenters will also be adding exterior sheathing and bracing to the structure, all of which is also a part of the rough framing.