line & plumb

it's plumb & line, but i managed to do line & plumb. i lined the left wall before realizing i should plumb first. heh. i didn't do anything yesterday. today, i plumbed some walls.

at first i walked around with the 4' level, checking corners, then studs adjacent to the corners, to determine if they were plumb, or if not, which way they needed to go. i found that each stud gave a slightly different reading. none of the studs are perfectly straight, and none are also nailed perfectly in position at the top & bottom plates. so how do i make the walls plumb?

i decided i wanted to align the marks i made on the top & bottom plates for studs. if i made these marks plumb with each other, then everything else is, on average, plumb (since i nailed studs aiming for those marks.) so i busted out the PLS90E. this laser projects a plumb line, which i aligned with a mark on the bottom plate. i then checked the top plate, and adjusted the wall to get the mark on the laser line. the adjustment was made with a wratcheting strap, as i found this faster than using the chain and turnbuckle. i nailed 10' 2x4s on angle to hold the wall plumb.

this method seemed to work well. however, i found that i could have done a better job nailing on the double top plate, as i left a few small gaps in the top plates that prevent both the front and back corners from being simultaneously plumb. since i already nailed off the double top plate, i can't change this. however, the discrepancy is very minor, between 1/4" and 1/8". next time, plumb before nailing off the double top plate, and get those top plates tight.

tomorrow i hope to finish plumbing & lining, if the weather permits. i'll also be ordering the lumber for the ceiling and roof, and all my windows. big spender baby, yeah.

double top plates

i didn't get out to the lot until after noonish. i finished nailing up the double top plates, then crawled along and nailed them to schedule (12in oc.) this was a very slow process with me trying to keep balance while carrying the nailer, hammer, and clamp.

i also added additional toenails through the bottom plate & floor sheathing into the top of the band joist. i alternated angles from one side to the other, so nailing here matches the band joist -> sill plate schedule. this should ensure continuity of the vertical force resistance system (uplift in high wind conditions.)

i also lined one wall. i'll plumb & line the rest tomorrow.

more wallz

sunday, the rest of the exterior walls and some interior walls went up.

monday, i tried framing up more interior walls but didn't accomplish much in the rain.

tuesday, i got the 2nd bath tub installed. i forgot some notes needed to frame the pocket door of the master bath, and didn't expect the tub unit to be such a pain to transport - so most of the day was wasted just getting the tub.

wednesday, i finished up the few interior walls left and nailed about 2/3 of the double top plates up. light rain throughout the day. left early due to heavier rain.

thursday was turkey day.

today, i'm going to finish off the double top plates and line & plumb the walls. slow start with morning rains..

wallz

wednesday, i modified the floor joists for the new floor plan. i decided it was best to do this before moving on with the walls, in case i ran into trouble. it was a pain, but no major hurdles. i then cut a bunch of cripples and trimmers.

thursday, i did nothing as i expected it to rain all day. of course, we didn't see any rain until the evening.

friday, i nailed together most window assemblies and marked up the double top plates with ceiling joist locations.

today, i started nailing together walls and raising them. about 3/4 of the exterior walls are done.

From vinnie

notes:

nailing studs to plates would go much faster if i didn't need to fuss with aligning the studs, to make them both flush with the plate and square to it. perhaps some kind of jig could speed this up while maintaining a quality job.

a few window assemblies came out with the trimmers extending a hair past the king stud at the bottom. i assume this is due to inexact cuts, slight swelling of members (especially the header), and/or pieces not tightly fitted together. in the future, mark the sill location on the king, and cut trimmers a little shy. this should do the trick.

also, probably best to haul out the chop saw next time i'm cutting crips, trimmers, etc. the worm drive can cut exact, but i have a feeling its alignment can slowly shift with use, whereas the chop saw should be more consistent. it also would allow setting up stops to speed repetitive cuts.

in regards to marking plates.. ensure your plate marking tool is precise, otherwise just use a tape. hopefully sheathing across these studs goes easy..

oh, and here's a good tip. double check the orientation of your walls before nailing the studs to the plates! i wanted headers on the exterior of my walls, but because i didn't notice until all my cripples would need to be relocated, they are now on the interior! hopefully that will work out ok.

so today i marked up the exterior walls and much of the interior walls. i cut window sills and "header caps".. tomorrow i'll cut cripples & trimmers. then nail 'em together and maybe raise 'em. hopefully the pace picks up a bit!

ah some notes on marking plates:
probably best to use a pencil at first, since i changed stud locations a bit to minimize thermal conduction. i tried doing this in sketchup first, but small variations in measurements messed that up.

the plate marking tool is nice, it speeds things up. maybe some variations on the tool; like transparent stud tabs at the ends. when starting a corner or adjacent to a window, the stud tab lays midway on that edge, to give sheathing full backing. transparent tabs would improve accuracy here.

also, marking plates highlighted the need to cut & lay plates accurately. studs will align to those marks, so they better be accurate, and it better go back together the same way it's laid!

as usual, take advantage of cutting multiples whenever possible. this goes for cutting headers, "header caps", sills, cripples, trimmers..

well. not a whole lot accomplished since the last post - due to a historical noreaster. the rain subsided enough to let me begin laying plates on sunday. i laid the rest of the plates yesterday.

today, i'll mark up the plates and begin nailing walls together & raising them.

finishing up the foundation

it is really amazing how fast the days go by between blog posts. hmm let's see, what did you miss.

i finished covering the foundation walls with rigid foam insulation. this was just after rain, so they were still damp. this was a mistake - those walls still aren't dry.

i shoveled additional gravel up against the base of the sheets, so water at the base of the wall can drain down to the drainage pipe. i used up just about the entire remaining pile of gravel.

i covered the gravel with filter fabric, and covered the fabric with rocks and CMU debris to keep it in place. i then put most of the extra concrete, mortar, & CMU debris on top of that fabric. this saves me the cost of hauling it off somewhere. it's kind of cheap to put it there, but it shouldn't be a problem, even if someone needs to dig up the footer area in the future for whatever reason.

i covered the seams between rigid foam sheets with tyvek tape. it took 1.5 rolls of tape. the tape starts above the pile of gravel at the bottom. the backfill should provide an airseal that low on the wall. higher up (and closer to the surface) the tape will assure an airtight shell. i'll be foaming the tiny gaps at the top of the sheets, then taping that seam, before attaching lath and stucco.

kate & i cleaned out most of the excess mortar droppings and other debris from the crawlspace and that was put around the foundation too. i purchased a propane heater and have been using that to heat the crawl in an expensive attempt to dry it out. i should have let the walls dry before covering them.

i rented two bobcats which i have over this weekend. i started backfilling yesterday. i have 8 hours between the two of them, so i'm trying to use them as efficiently as i can manage.

it's very cold outside, i think it dipped down to 29F last night.. but it's supposed to go up past 60 today.

windy ways

yesterday, i set only a few more pieces of insulation. i then ran out of adhesive, and went to purchase more. by the time i returned, high winds appeared and remained all day. the winds made handling of the foam sheets impossible. instead, i spent the rest of the day hauling gravel and dumping in front of the base of the wall, against the installed insulation.

today, rain is preventing me from installing the rest of the sheets. tomorrow is another day.