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The author was actually looking for "stick framing", of which balloon framing is a particular technique. (The term was originally derogatory, coming from the perspective of the timber framers.)

The image comparing balloon and platform techniques should probably have suggested the existence of a broader term.



This is what the author says:

> Today in the US, most houses and apartments are built using light framed wood construction.

> This system is a variant of a framing style known as balloon framed construction

Also, to the guy sidethread, the distinction between balloon framing and platform framing is the subject of several paragraphs, with illustrations.


Balloon framing has a specific legally binding definition as described in building codes.

In the building codes it is a method of light wood framing (not the other way round).

It can also be a method of light metal framing…in practice this is probably more common in the wild (in the US), because long light metal studs are straight and lightweight and hence more “wieldy.”


This is a bit though like saying "LCD screens as a variation of plasma screens" because they both share a lot of parts and look similar.

They came about at the same time, and shared many of the same concepts, but they are completely different technologies, and one didn't necessarily come from the other.




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