Rough Carpentry
QBC LLC is a wood framing contractor for multifamily and mixed-use projects across Wisconsin and Northern Illinois. Lumber, trusses, and wall panels, supplied and installed.
What is rough carpentry?
Rough carpentry is the structural wood framing of a building: the walls, floors, roof, stairs, and the blocking and backing that every other trade fastens to. It is the carpentry that drywall covers. Finish carpentry is everything installed after that.
At QBC, rough carpentry means wood framing for multifamily and mixed-use buildings: apartments, townhomes, senior living, and student housing across Wisconsin and Northern Illinois. We supply and install the lumber, trusses, engineered floor systems, and wall panels under one contract, with one project manager from takeoff to final inspection.
QBC LLC started in 1998 as a custom home framing crew in Madison, Wisconsin. We moved into large multifamily framing in 2008 and have framed hundreds of projects since. Framing is the scope the company was built on, and it is still the one everything else is built from.
What you get with QBC framing:
- Labor and materials bid together, so the lumber, trusses, and panels are priced by the people who will install them
- Plan review in preconstruction to catch constructability conflicts before anyone mobilizes
- Crews sequenced by floor so MEP rough-in starts on schedule
- Walls plumb, floors level, openings square, and every floor inspection ready before we call it
- One project manager who answers for the whole scope
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Why does framing set the schedule on a multifamily project?
Framing sets the schedule because every trade behind it waits on it. Plumbing, electrical, HVAC, fire protection, drywall, and finishes cannot start a floor until that floor is framed, inspected, and dried in. A week lost in framing is a week lost for everyone who follows.
What does an experienced framing contractor do differently?
The difference shows up before the first wall goes up. We review structural drawings against the MEP routing, check truss layouts against bearing points, and flag constructability problems to your architect and project manager while there is still time to fix them on paper. On site, we keep coordinating with the trades behind us for the length of the job. After hundreds of projects, most of the problems that derail a framing schedule are ones we have already seen.
How does QBC protect your schedule and budget?
Timeliness is one of our twelve core tenets: set the pace, always deliver. On a framing job that means materials ordered against real lead times in preconstruction, deliveries scheduled by floor, and crews sized to the schedule rather than the other way around. When something changes, your project manager tells you that day with a cost and a schedule impact attached. Fewer change orders, fewer surprises at pay app, and a frame the next trade can trust.
Which wood framing systems does QBC install?
QBC installs and supplies the wood framing systems most multifamily projects in Wisconsin and Northern Illinois are built with. We pick the mix in preconstruction based on the structure, the site, and the schedule.
Platform framing
Platform framing builds a structure one story at a time: the floor deck of each level becomes the working platform for framing the walls of the next. It is the standard method for multi-story wood multifamily buildings because every floor is a safe, flat deck to work from and the walls are only one story tall when they are raised.
Panelized wall systems
Panelized walls are wall sections built off site in a shop, delivered on a truck, and set in place by our crews. They shorten the framing schedule and cut weather exposure on tight sites, but they need engineering lead time and room to stage. We price panelized and stick-built both so you can compare.
Engineered floor systems
I-joists and open web floor trusses span farther than dimensional lumber and leave clear pathways for plumbing, duct, and electrical runs. We pair them with LVL beams and headers where the structure calls for it.
Roof and floor trusses
Prefabricated trusses carry loads across long spans and open floor plans. We do not manufacture trusses or panels. We partner with a manufacturer and buy at volume pricing based on our combined project volume, which is often equal to or better than what a general contractor can get on a single job. The project manager who ordered the truss package is the one whose crew sets it.
Blocking, backing, and stairs
Blocking for cabinets and grab bars, backing for finishes, stair framing, and shaft walls. It is the rough carpentry nobody sees, and it is what lets the finish trades move fast.
Smaller projects? We frame those too.
QBC started as a custom home framing crew in 1998, and we still know our way around a house. Big multifamily projects don't always line up back to back, so between them we put dedicated 6-man crews on custom homes, townhome buildings, and large barns and shops for homebuilders and GCs within 75 miles of DeForest. Whole structures only. No additions, no small garages. Standard 4-bedroom, 2-story homes up to 3,200 sq ft come with a conditional 4-week guarantee. See our Framing Packages.
How a QBC framing project runs
- Invite us to bid. Send plans to bids@questbuildingcorp.com. We take off lumber, trusses, panels, and hardware and bid labor and materials under one contract.
- Preconstruction. Your project manager is assigned. Contract, plans, and schedule are reviewed with the crew. Truss and panel shop drawings are coordinated with your architect and engineer. Materials are ordered against lead times and deliveries are scheduled by floor.
- Framing. Crews frame by floor in sequence with your MEP trades. Your project manager coordinates with our Foremen on site and reports to you.
- Inspection and punch. Every floor goes to inspection ready. Four rounds of punch: ours, yours, the owner's, and final.
- Closeout. Warranties sent. If you bundled finishes with us, the same project manager carries the job into trim, cabinetry, and countertops.
Why hire QBC for framing?
Framing is the scope we started with in 1998 and the one the company is built on. Labor and materials under one contract, one project manager, and crews that have framed hundreds of projects across Wisconsin and Northern Illinois.
Questions about QBC
Rough carpentry is the structural wood framing of a building: walls, floors, roof, stairs, and the blocking and backing that other trades fasten to. It is the carpentry that drywall covers. Finish carpentry is the trim, doors, cabinetry, and countertops installed afterward.
It depends on schedule, site access, and lead time. Panelized walls are built off site and set in place, which shortens the framing schedule and cuts weather exposure, but they need engineering lead time and room to stage. Stick framing is built in place and absorbs late changes better. QBC installs both and prices both during preconstruction so you can compare.
Yes. QBC supplies and installs roof trusses, floor trusses, engineered floor systems, and panelized walls under one contract. We do not manufacture them. We partner with a manufacturer and pass through volume pricing based on our combined project volume.
Yes. Most of our framing is multifamily, but QBC started as a custom home framing crew in 1998. Our Framing Packages put a dedicated 6-man crew on custom homes, townhome buildings, and large barns and shops within 75 miles of DeForest. Whole structures only. We do not frame additions or small garages.
QBC frames multifamily and mixed-use buildings from townhome projects to $115M+ developments. Our framing crews run 5 to 10 large multifamily projects a year across Wisconsin and Northern Illinois.