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.