The best magazine
- 1). Lay out the walls; the layout will depend on where you want your doors, windows, or any other opening. When you lay out the walls, it is best to first lay out your exterior top plates and bottom plates on edge next to each other. This way while you go through your plans, you will measure out and mark any door, window, or place where interior walls will tie into the exterior walls. You will also mark out the regular studs, which are marked at every 16 inches on center. To keep track of what your marks mean, you can place an "X" for studs, a "C" for the crippler studs that will be installed on the top and bottom of doors and windows, a "T" for trimmers that frame your doors and windows, and a "B" for where you will be placing the stud and block corner post.
- 2). Separate the top and bottom plates so that they are the height of your wall. You will then lay out the studs on the lines that you have marked out per the plans. The studs should be the height of your wall minus 4 1/2 inches. The 4 1/2 inches are for your bottom and double top plates. For the outside corners of the wall, you will build stud and block corner posts; these are two studs with blocking sandwiched in between. The blocking is usually three or four blocks (cut-off scraps are good for this) with gaps in between. Nail these together. These are for outside corners where walls will meet up and be nailed together. Once these are done, look to see if there are any interior walls that will butt up to your exterior walls. This will require you to build an inside corner post, which consists of two studs nailed to the edge of another stud. Next, nail the post in place so that the interior wall will butt up to the face of the center corner stud.
- 3). Frame the windows and doors. Both doors and windows will require headers. LSL lumber is best for this. Door and window openings require a one-fourth inch gap all around the framing in order to install door and window jambs. For the doors and windows, you will also need to add another 1 1/2 inches to both sides of your opening. For example, with a 36-inch jamb you will need to add 2 inches to each side, which is 1 1/2 inches plus the 1/2 inch, to equal 2 inches. When you nail the studs, you will have a 40-inch space between the studs. Next, cut a header block at 40 inches and install it 1/2 inch higher than the jamb and nail. Next, install trimmer studs, which are cut and nailed vertically to hold the header in place. This is what the 1 1/2-inch extra space on each side is for when laying out your studs for door or window jambs.
- 4). Square the wall. Hook the tape measure to one corner of the wall and run it diagonally across the wall to the other corner. Remember that measurement. Then do the same with the other corners. If this measurement is different, that means that the wall is not square. Adjust the wall by tapping it with your hammer until it has the same measurement from both corners running diagonal. Next, nail diagonal bracing to keep it square.
- 5). Raise the wall. Be careful not to raise it too fast, causing it to fall over. Once the exterior walls are up, you can install the double top plate; the double top plate nails directly to the first top plate. Stagger all joints. Where interior walls meet up with exterior walls, you will either cut out a slot or leave a slot open for double top plates to tie together exterior and interior walls. The framing is now in place for your new house or room addition.
Source: ...