This section is from the book "Constructive Carpentry", by Charles A. King. Also available from Amazon: .
Corner Posts. The corner posts of a full or of a half frame house are framed at the girts by a mortise and tenon joint, the tops of the raised girts being flush with the floor joists, as at w, Fig. 20; and, in order to prevent cutting away the post too much at one place and to allow a longer tenon upon each girt, the sunk or dropped girts are placed low enough to allow the floor joists to rest upon their tops, as shown at z, in Fig. 20.
The girts sometimes are cut into the corner post with a beveled shoulder, as shown in Fig. 23, to prevent the entire weight of the girt from resting upon the tenon, though this is not usually done upon ordinary work.
In a full or a half frame house, the timbers are often weakened by the mortises cut in them, unless stirrup irons are used to support the joists, which would otherwise be tenoned into headers or girts. Other timbers which are usually supported by mortise and tenon joints may be supported in the same way, though a mortise cut in the middle of the depth of a timber affects it less than if cut upon one edge or corner.
The joints between the corner posts and sills of all frame buildings usually are made as shown in Fig. 24, though frequently they are spiked in the cheaper balloon frames.
Fig;. 23. - Beveled Shoulder Joint.
Corner posts may be built by one of the methods shown in Fig. 25.
The ribband pieces, or ledger boards, which support the floor joists above the first floor, are cut into the studs and corner posts. The depth of the cut is gauged from the outside of the stud, as shown in Fig. 26, in order that the shoulders or notches of the floor joists may all be cut the same length and that no variation may show upon the outside of the building.
 
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