see carpenters raising the wall and then standing on ladders to nail on the double top plate, the job is much quicker and easier to do while the wall is still on the deck.
On butt walls, the double top plate laps over the top plate ЗУ2 in. (for a 2×4 wall) so that it can tie into a through wall.
On through walls, the double top plate cuts back from the end of the top plate ЗУ2 in. to leave room for the double top plate on the butt wall to lap over and tie the two walls together (see the drawing above). There is а ЗУ2-ІП. mark on the through walls left from when you located the corners with the cornermarking tool. Lay the double top plate on the wall with one end ЗУ2 in. from the end of the top plate. Go to the other end and cut the plate at the other ЗУ2-ІП. mark. At the channel marks, leave а ЗУ2-ІП. cutout so that an interior butt wall can lap over and tie in at this
point. Cut the double top plates a little short to leave а З3/д-іп. gap (more or less) rather than ЗУ2 in. This makes it easier for the double top plate of the butt wall to slip into the gap in the through wall. This is another one of those times when it’s okay not to be totally accurate.
To start nailing on the double top plates, drive two 16d nails into the end of each plate and then one more over every stud. Avoid driving nails between studs, because electricians and plumbers run their wires and pipes through holes drilled in these locations. Hitting a nail while drilling will not only dull the bit, but it can also give your arm a nasty twist and injure your wrist. Again, skilled carpenters understand what it takes to help other tradespeople do their work well and are mindful of other workers.
Before being raised, walls need to be squared and braced, either by installing structural sheathing like plywood or OSB or by using wall braces. Due to changes in the building codes, buildings are built stronger than they used to be to resist lateral forces produced by earthquakes and high winds.
As a new carpenter, I used to cut 2x braces into walls. Each piece of 2x was cut on a 45° miter to fit between the studs. Check it out on your next old — house remodel job. One brace would often take me an hour or two to finish, especially when cutting with a handsaw. Once carpenters began framing walls flat on the floor, we learned to lay a 1×6 brace diagonally across the face of the studs. Then we learned to cut slots in the studs with a circular saw to let in the brace and allow it to nail in flush.
Finally, about 25 years ago, an easy-to — install, L-shaped metal angle brace was introduced. Lay it across the framed wall diagonally from the bottom plate to the double top plate and trace a pencil mark along one side. With a circular saw, cut a slot 1 in. deep along this line into the plates and studs. Slip one flange of the brace into the slot and nail it to the bottom plate with three 8d nails. Drive one more 8d nail through the brace and into the first stud. At the double top plate, start an 8d nail alongside the brace and bend it over to hold it in place as the wall is raised. You’ll nail the brace permanently to the other studs and plates after the walls are plumbed.
Nowadays, the house frame is often held plumb by nailing on structural exterior sheathing, which eliminates the need for diagonal wall braces. Some builders like to square and sheathe walls while they are flat on the floor. I prefer sheathing walls after they are raised, especially if the house is one story. (A couple of sawhorses are all you need as scaffolding for a single-story house.) Sheathed walls are heavy and hard to raise by hand unless you use a wall jack, a device that hooks under a wall and slowly raises it upright (Qual-Craft Industries; see Sources on p. 198). Further, when building on a concrete slab, you often have pipes in exterior walls that make it impossible to sheathe some sections of a wall.
If you sheathe the walls before raising them, make sure the wall is flat on the floor and that the bottom plate is directly on the wall chalkline. Toenail this plate to the wood deck about every 48 in. or so with 16d nails to hold the plate in place as it is raised. Check the wall for square by measuring diagonally from corner to corner (see p. 87), remembering that the wall is square when the diagonals are equal.
The sheathing panels have to lap down at least 1 in. over a concrete slab. On a wooden floor, the panels have to lap down over the rim joist and 1 in. onto the foundation. So first determine how
far the panels must extend below the bottom plate, and then hold your tape the proper distance below the bottom plate and measure up 8 ft. (the panel length) on the wall studs. After marking this height at both ends of the wall, snap a chalkline on the studs. Nail in a row of blocks between studs at this line to give backing for nailing panel ends (9-ft. and 10-ft. panels are available, which allow you to sheathe the entire wall without having a joint).
