Frontier Builder
FrontierBuilder
Building
Framed walls — layout, sheathing, crew sheets, order
Quick build
Say it or type it. Get the layout, the cut list and the crew sheets.
Type the whole house

Wall Spec

What this wall carries — for the header check
Work out header sizes for the engineer — a candidate size per opening, not a design
Plates
PT bottom Double stud at plate splices — splice lands on the pair's joint Double stud at every sheathing seam — the seam splits between the pair, each sheet edge gets a full stud Build in panels — set them separately with the telehandler
Plates split to stock length with every splice landing on a stud (double the stud at splices). Cap plate splices auto-offset at least 4'-0" from top plate splices and from wall ends — you get a warning if the wall can't make that work. On concrete, bolts land ≤12" from every plate end and at the max spacing between — embed & size per plans.
Plates already cut
Rake / slope
“Height” above = the LOW end(s). Single rake: pitch or the high end's T.O.P. — type the height or the truss plan's delta with a plus (+5' 10 3/16"). Gable: both slopes rake to the peak — set peak height (or pitch) and where the peak lands (default center). Framed as ONE wall, laid out from the left end.
Layout pull
Butting into a wall at that corner? Enter its depth (e.g. 5 1/2") — first stud pulls at 15 1/4" minus that, so sheets break on layout from the building corner. If this wall runs past the corner, leave it 0.
Corners & ends
What each end meets
Set what a wall end runs into and the app sets both walls: the corner assembly on each, whose cap laps over whose, the channel and cap leave-out where a T-wall lands, and it checks that a closed box actually closes. Walls built from a plan get these filled in.
90 = a square corner. Type the inside angle the plan shows where this wall meets the next one — 135 for an octagon (45° clip), 120 for a hexagon. Anything but 90 puts an ANGLE cut on both plate ends and a bevel rip on the corner studs, and the wall length is the LONG POINT.
Angle corner calculator
Channels (T-walls)
Blocking & backing
Presets:
Openings
Type them in one line, as many as you want, and they land on the wall with the wall's header default and the head height if one is set. Sizes: 3050, 36x60, 3'x5', 9x8 garage door, 6' slider, or a schedule mark. Positions: at 4', 12', 20' (centres from the left), at 6' from the right, centered, centered between W1 and W2, 8' right of W1. Nothing said about position spreads them evenly.
Posts & stud packs
Solid wood plate to plate where the plans put a point load on the cap (girder truss, beam above) or a hold-down. No pocket — the beam is above the wall. Hardware and bearing below per plans.
Beam pockets
Run the plates through the pocket and cut it out after layout
Beam on top of the wall
The glulam (or LVL, PSL, timber) that lands on the top plate and carries the floor above. Two ways it gets framed — pick the one the plans show, because it changes every stud length on this wall.
A beam sits on top of this wall
Hardware marks (per plans)
Sheathing
Sheathe this wall Block at sheet breaks
Stacked stories: set “run past top” to the floor-system depth plus the lap onto the next wall (e.g. 14" rim + 12" lap = 26"). The sheet map shows where every sheet breaks across the band and how each one gets cut.
Plan tags — annotations only
SHEAR / braced wall — per approved plans No field changes without engineer approval All panel edges blocked (per plans)
These print big on the sheets and highlight the panels — the tool never decides shear itself; you copy the callout off the approved plans.
Nailing — house standard (all walls)
Drives the nail counts, the tap-a-piece steps, and the nailing line on every crew sheet. Two nails on the job: 16d for framing (stud ends, stitch, plates, headers, blocking), 8d for sheathing. Typical IRC-style schedule — shear walls and anything on the plans win.
Revision & field status
Layout verified Wall framed Wall sheathed Stood & braced Field change made
Issue snapshots this wall's pieces. Change anything after issuing and the changed pieces get flagged on the drawing and list until you bump the rev again.
Dimensions: type 12' 6 1/2", 9', or 92 5/8". A bare number over 30 reads as inches, otherwise feet — the blue readout under each box shows how it was read.
✓ auto-saves
Layout & material tool only — header, beam, rafter and connection sizing comes from the approved plans, manufacturer tables, or the engineer of record. Verify all dimensions against the plans before cutting.