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.