Library builder

CONTRARY TO WHAT PEOPLE MAY think, having a lot of brothers is not always fun. I know. I am the only girl in a family with six children. When there are so many kids, vou need a big house, but our family could not afford one. We used to live in a very small house […]

In addition to being a carpenter for the past 50 years, I’ve also been a gardener my entire life, and I see a lot of similarities between framing and gardening. If you take the time to prepare the ground, add lots of compost, plant good seeds, mulch well, and nurture young plants, you can’t help […]

WHETHER YOU USE a store-bought layout stick or make your own, this tool will save you a lot of time when marking plates in preparation for wall con­struction. A stick like the one shown here can be used to lay out studs on 16-in. and 24-in. centers. To make your own layout stick, cut a […]

NAILED BETWEEN STUDS, blocking provides solid backing for items such as towel racks, closet shelves, and safety grab bars. Blocking ensures that the mounting hardware for those devices can be anchored with screws driven into solid wood, so that you don’t have to worry about racks, bars, and shelves pulling loose. It’s smart to include […]

It’s important to remember that the framing must accommodate plumbing, heating, and electrical features. Talk to the subcontractors before you even start on the floor. Show them your plans and find out what you can do when it comes time to frame walls so that they can do their work without having to remodel your […]

Building walls is like baking a cake. Success depends on having all the right ingredients. When you mark the plates, you’re setting the exact locations for all of the headers, cripples, studs, corners, and wall intersections associ­ated with each wall in the house. Mark corners and channels first When marking up each plate, start with […]

Stud length, header height, and other‘‘stan­dard” dimensions vary somewhat from region to region. Find out what is standard in vour area. Out West, where Fm accustomed to framing, we use a stud that is 924 n. long. I leaders for doors and windows are usually held 6 ft. 10 in. off the subfloor. Check the […]

SPANNING THE DISTANCE above window and door openings, headers transfer the weight of the roof down through the trimmers, making it pos­sible to have openings in a wall with­out compromising its strength. There are three things you need to know about headers: length, cross-sectional dimensions, and construction details. Header Lengths Window and door manufacturers typically […]

FRAMING LUMBER CAN be heavy. A 2×4 stud isn’t a big deal, but a wet, 16-ft. 2×12 sure is—and there are many boards of that heft even in a small house. Dor’t carry lumber by holding the board at your waist; this puts undue strain on your elbows and lower back. Instead, grab a long, […]

Stack, tack, and cut Plating a wall involves three procedures. STACK THE PLATES. Place two layers of plate slock (2x4s are used for the wall framing on this house) along the layout line for the wall. These layers will become the top and bottom plates. Reserve the straightest 2x4s for the plates, and use the […]