Category A HOUSE

The best way to obtain accurate lengths for cripples and trimmers is to make a story pole. As the name suggests, this straight length of wood (I use a 2×4) tells a story. In this case, it’s the description of a wall layout, with the locations of sills and headers for win­dows and doors providing the measurements for cutting cripples and trimmers. With a story pole, you do all the measuring once, double-check everything, then use the pole as a reference for the entire layout. Instead of repeatedly measuring cripples and trim­mers with a tape measure, you simply transfer the layout marks from the story pole.

To make a story pole, select a straight stud and nail a short scrap of 2×4 on one end to act as the bottom plate. Then, mea­suring upward from the base of the bottom plate, clearly mark the underside of the header at 6 ft. 10 in. (assuming that is the header height). Measure upward another 1У2 in. for a single flat header, 3У2 in. for a 4×4 header, and 5V2 in. for a 4×6 header, mak­ing clear marks across the story pole. The distances remaining above the header layout lines are the lengths of the top cripples. Remember that headers for pocket and bifold doors may be high­er, so their cripples will be shorter. Label the layout lines on your story pole to avoid confusion.

To locate windowsills, measure the window height down from the bottom of the header. Measure down another 1У2 in. for a single 2x rough sill. The amount remaining is the length of the bottom cripples. The trimmer lengths are measured from the bot­tom plate to the bottom of the header.

the way in which headers will be constructed. A good way to carry around this information is with a story pole, as explained in the sidebar above. Recording wall-building information on a story pole reduces the chance of error and speeds the entire framing process.

Determine dimensions for stud length and header height

Stud length, header height, and other “stan­dard” dimensions vary somewhat from region to region. Find out what is standard in your area. Out west, where I’m accustomed to
framing, we use a stud that is 921/4 in. long. Headers for doors and windows are usually held 6 ft. 10 in. off the subfloor. Check the height in your region, though—in some places, the stan­dard is 6 ft. 10V2 in. Headers for pocket doors and closet bifold doors may need to be higher to allow room for an overhead track. Door and window sizes are noted on the plans with des­ignations such as 3/0 x 6/8 (36 in. by 80 in.) or 5/0 x 4/0 (60 in. by 48 in.). Carpenters will say, “There’s a three-oh by six-eight door,” or “We’ve got a five-oh by four-oh window going in this wall.” The first measurement is the width, 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 provide recom­mended rough opening sizes for the prehung units they sell. To determine the length of a window header, you can simply add 3 in. to the rough opening size; this is the com­bined thickness of the trimmers that support the ends of the header.

■ The length of a door header is usually 5 in. greater than the width of the door. Therefore, a 3/0 door (36 in. wide) needs

a 41-in. header. The extra 5 in. includes 3 in. for the trimmer thickness, 11/2 in. for two 3/4-in.-thick door jambs, and 1/2 in. of clearance space for setting the door plumb.

■ A set of sliding doors typically requires a shorter header than a regular door—just 3 in. longer than the combined width of the pair of doors. For example, a set of 5/0 (60-in.) sliding doors requires a 63-in.-long header, which provides 1У2 in. on each side for the trimmers. After the trimmers are wrapped with drywall, you’re left with a 59-in.-wide opening, which allows the sliding doors to overlap 1 in.

■ On the other hand, bifold doors require a header 4[1]/4 in. longer than the actual door size. So 5/0 (60 in.) bifold doors require a 64V4 in. header. The 4V4 in. margin leaves room for two trimmers

(3 in.), a layer of drywall (1 in.), and V4 in. so that the doors will close properly.

■ The standard header length for vinyl­framed windows is 3 in. longer than the rough opening (39 in. for a 36 in. win­dow). For wood-frame windows, head­ers are cut 5 in. longer than the rough opening, just like door headers are. Make sure that the window sizes meet code requirements for daylight, ventila­tion, and egress.

Header Cross Section and Construction

■ The header in a nonbearing wall can be a single 2x. In a load-bearing wall, the length a header spans determines its cross-sectional measurement. For a 3/0 exterior door or a 4/0 window in a 2×4 wall, code requires at least a 4×4 header. A 5/0 or 6/0 window requires

a 4×6 header. An 8/0 window needs at least a 4×8 header. In 2×6 walls, simply increase the thickness of the header to 51/2 in.

■ Headers can be constructed in many ways. They must be as wide as the wall in which they are installed. In cold re­gions, headers are built with gaps so that foam or fiberglass insulation can be added. Talk to builders in your area to find out what’s done locally, and check with the building inspector to make sure the headers you plan to use will meet code.

You can place the top plate alongside the bottom plate or toenail the top plate on edge to the bot­tom plate. These plating strategies maintain the alignment of the top and bottom plates so that you can accurately mark both plates at once.

Interior walls without bolts can be secured to a slab in various ways. You can drill through the plate and into the concrete with a cement bit. Once the hole is cleaned out, you can secure a bolt in the cement using epoxy or by using a bolt that expands as it is tightened.

Another common way to fasten a plate to a slab is by using a powder-actuated tool that shoots a hardened pin through the wood into the concrete. These tools pack serious power, so take care. Ask for training from your site super­visor before using them. Be sure to wear lenses to protect the eyes and plugs for the ears.

STEP 3 COUNT AND CUT THE HEADERS, ROUGH SILLS,

CRIPPLES, AND TRIMMERS

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. Don’t carry lumber by holding the board at your waist; this puts undue strain on your elbows and lower back. Instead, grab a long, heavy board at its balance point and, in one fluid motion, lift and flip it gently onto your shoulder. With your entire body helping absorb and distribute the weight, the load is much easier to carry.

Another way to mark the plate is by creating indents of the bolts on the plate. Place the plate over the bolts and apply pressure. [Photo by Don Charles Blom]

Mark the sill plate on the slab with a bolt marker. [Photo by Don Charles Blom]

Solidly brace the plate while drilling bolt holes with a spade bit. [Photo by Don Charles Blom]

The band joist is nailed on top of the plate. The floor joists are nailed to the band joists. [Photo by Don Charles Blom]

Plating on a concrete slab and around plumbing

Remember to use treated wood when working on concrete. Untreated wood placed next to a slab is an open invitation for hungry termites to move in. When working on a slab with anchor bolts, use an anchor-bolt marker to locate the holes in exterior wall plates (see p. 58 for more on anchor bolts). With a bit of practice, you can also mark the bolt holes by setting the plate di­
rectly on the bolts. Just sight down and align the plate edge with the chalkline, then hit the plate with a hammer directly over the bolts.

After the holes are drilled, you can fit the bottom plate on the anchor bolts and nail the top plate along the bottom plate’s outside edge (see the illustration on the facing page). It can also be toenailed on edge to the top of the top plate.

If you encounter plumbing pipes in the walls, cut the bottom plate to fit around them.

This step involves laying out all of the lumber required for the top and bottom plates, cutting the plates to length, and temporarily tacking them on their layout lines so that matching marks can be made on both plates for the studs, doorways, windows, and intersecting walls. Don’t plate, mark, and build one wall at a time. This old method is time-consuming and makes it difficult to frame accurately. Instead, put all the plates down for every wall, beginning with the outside walls.

It’s best to plate the long, outside through walls first, then plate the outside butt walls that extend between the through walls. As shown in the illustration on the facing page, through walls have plates that run through from corner to corner. Walls that fit between or intersect other walls are called butt walls. After you

• Plate exterior walls first, beginning with through walls.

• Plate interior butt walls second.

• Use 8d nails to temporarily tack plates in place.

• When possible, tack top plates directly on top of bottom plates.

Select straight plates. Check 2x plate lumber for bow and twist and select only the straightest boards for plates. This makes for strong, straight walls.

finish plating the outside walls, you can move inside, beginning with the longest walls and working your way toward the shortest ones.

Stack, tack, and cut

Plating a wall involves three procedures. STACK THE PLATES. Place two layers of plate stock (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 2 x4s for the plates, and use the longest plates (typically 16 ft.) on the longest exterior walls. Pay attention to where the top plate stock butts together. These butt joints should be at least 4 ft. away from an intersecting wall.

TACK THE PLATES IN PLACE. After you’ve distributed the plate stock, you can start tacking it down. Using 8d nails, tack, or

Most walls are plated this way. The bottom plate is tacked to the floor and the second plate is tacked to the first with 8d nails.

Two ways to plate walls that house pipes

temporarily nail, the bottom plate to the sub­floor right on the line. Drive an 8d nail about 1 ft. from the end of each board and another near each intersecting wall. Tack the top plate directly on top of the bottom plate. Continue stacking and tacking until you reach the end of the wall.

CUT THE PLATES TO LENGTH. As you’re stacking and tacking, you’ll also be cutting plates to length with a circular saw. Where 2x plate stock butts together, make sure that the ends are square-cut and that they meet snugly. Although it’s acceptable for the bottom plate to be a little short, the top plate must be as close as possible to the exact length. The bottom plate of a framed wall is nailed to the subfloor. Roof trusses are nailed to the top plates.

When the outside walls have been plated, you can start scattering plate stock for the interior walls. Don’t do this haphazardly. Just as when you were laying out the walls, it’s best to plate the long, parallel interior walls first. These long walls become through walls into which shorter walls butt. Plate the shortest walls last. Pay attention to which interior walls are butt walls and which ones are through walls. If the walls are plated properly, it is easier to build and raise them. I run all plates continuously, ignoring door and window open­ings. The bottom plate will be cut for the door openings later.

If the deck perimeter isn’t parallel and square, the walls won’t be either. Take the time to check this now, following the procedure explained in Chapter 3 (see pp. 56—57). If necessary, fine-tune the exterior wall layout to correct for out-of-

square corners or nonparallel walls. The lines you snap define the inside edge of the exterior walls. For 2×4 walls, measure 3V2 in. in from the deck edge (slightly more or less if you need to get the walls square and parallel). If the walls will be framed with 2 x6s, use a 51/2-in. measurement. Instead of measuring this dis­tance, you can simply lay a scrap 2x 4 (or 2x 6) on the deck and mark against its inside edge.

Mark all the exterior corners to establish the layout marks for snapping the exterior wall lines around the perimeter of the floor (or slab).

When you’ve marked all the corners, snap lines around the perimeter. If you’re working on a concrete slab, you may want to move all these lines in an extra У2 in. so that the wall sheathing can be nailed onto the framed wall flush with the concrete. At this point, pay no attention to the openings for doors and windows—just snap the wall lines right through the openings.

Mark interior walls next

Begin laying out the interior walls by measur­ing from the exterior walls. For example, the illustration on p. 79 calls for a distance of 12 ft. 7 in. from the outside corner of the house to the center of a partition wall. Add or subtract 13/4 in. from that distance to snap the layout line for the partition wall. Remember to note how measurements are given on the plans. Lay out

long interior walls (such as hallways) first, then do the short walls (such as closets). There is no need to mark the door and wall openings.

For hallways, the minimum width is 37 in. in the rough, which yields a finished width of 36 in. (accounting for /Tin. drywall installed on each side). I sometimes frame hallways 40 in. wide in the rough to create easier passage for a wheel­chair (a standard wheelchair is 26 in. wide).

Pay particular attention to squaring bath­rooms and kitchens, which makes it easier to set cabinets and install vinyl flooring. When fram­ing on a slab, plumbing lines will have been set in the concrete. If a pipe was placed slightly outside where a wall should be, it’s better to move the wall rather than the pipe. If the pipe misses the wall by a lot, you’ll need to involve a plumber.

Although a standard bathtub is 60 in. long, I snap wall lines with a 601/8-in. space for the tub, which makes installation easier for the plumber. I also lay out the bathroom’s plumbing wall with a 2×6 wall instead of a 2×4; a wider wall makes it much easier to fit all the bathroom pipes inside.

I’ve done plenty of house layouts on my own, but it’s better to tackle this job with a helper or two. The work goes faster when you have someone else to hold the other end of the tape or chalkline. More important, your chances of catching mistakes improve significantly.

Read the building plan

A building plan is a guide, just like a road map. There are symbols and measurements to tell you what to do (see the illustration on the facing page). You don’t have to visualize every detail on a road map to get from Texas to Maine. Neither do you have to visualize every detail on a plan to be able to build a house. You just have to know how to read the plan, then take it one step at a time.

The most common plan scale uses 1/4 in. to equal 1 ft., so 1 in. on a plan equals 4 ft. on a subfloor. Plan dimensions, however, can be
labeled as outside to outside, inside to inside, outside to center, or center to center (wall to wall), so you need to pay close attention to this information (see the illustration below). For layout purposes, if you encounter an outside to center (o/s to c) dimension, simply add 13/4 in.—half the width of a 2×4—to the over­all measurement to obtain the outside to outside measurement, which you can then transfer to the floor (for a 2×6 wall, add 23/4 in.).

The first layout work involves transferring key information from the building plans to the subfloor or slab. These layout lines enable you to lay down the top and bottom plates for every wall in the house—a process called plating the walls. With each wall’s top and bottom plates temporarily tacked together on the subfloor, you can mark up the plates to identify exactly where each stud, king stud, header, and trimmer is located. If you haven’t already done so, take the time to familiarize yourself with the various parts that go into a wood-frame wall (see the illustration on p. 87).

Mark wall layouts

Three marking tools are essential: a chalkline, a keel, and a carpenter’s pencil. A chalkline and an ample supply of chalk allow you to snap wall layout lines on the subfloor or slab (see the top photo on p. 80). It’s not necessary to mark two lines for a wall; instead, use a carpenter’s crayon, or keel, to mark an “X” on the side of the line that will be covered by the wall plates. A keel is also useful for labeling parts, writing cripple sizes on headers, and indicating door and win­dow openings.

To make a snapped line easier to find, use a pencil or keel to make a crow’s foot, or a large “V” mark, with the point centered on the line. If you snap a line in error, wipe it away with your foot or at least draw a wavy line through it before snapping a line in the correct place.

Use another chalk color to snap the correct line. Try to keep all markings clear and simple, and avoid complicating things unnecessarily. The object is to get all the information you

Select the right chalk.

The powdered chalk used for chalklines comes in different colors. Have a second color on hand, in case you need to snap a new chalkline close to an incorrectly snapped line. If you need to lay out walls in wet weather, use water­proof chalk to make sure your lines stay sharp and precise.

Chalklines are snapped on the floor to show the location of all the walls. The top and bottom plates will be tacked to the deck along those lines.

need off the plan and onto the floor in an understandable format.

Walls Create Space

The wall-framing phase of a homebuilding project is an exciting one. Piles of lumber scattered around a flat platform are soon assembled into a complex skeleton that defines the shape and size of a home’s interior spaces. For the first time, it’s possible to experience the look and feel of a new house. We’re still a long way from move-in, but the completed frame is a dramatic step forward.

Framing walls requires an abundance of energy, good teamwork, and real presence of mind. As you’ll see on the following pages, it takes quite a few steps to get the walls up and ready for roof trusses. Wall locations must be chalked out on the slab or subfloor; plates must be scattered; headers, rough sills, cripples, and trimmers must be cut; plates must be marked; and the pieces must be nailed together. After the walls are nailed together, they must be raised, braced, connected, plumbed, lined, and sheathed. It all happens fast, though, and before you know it, there’s a house standing where there wasn’t one before.

As a novice carpenter, I was often afraid that I would make a huge mis­take while doing wall layouts. Transferring measurements from the building plans to the floor sheathing or slab seemed like a precise and unforgiving science, the principles of which I didn’t fully understand. I knew that once the house was framed, the wall-layout lines would be real spaces—bedrooms, bathrooms, and kitchens—so accuracy seemed critical. After laying out a few houses, however, I learned that, as with most other aspects of carpentry, wall layout just needs to be close—normally within 1/4 in. tolerance—not accurate to a machinist’s or scientist’s tolerances. After I realized that, I was able to relax and get on with the work.

Sometimes a little extra persuasion is needed to unite tongue-and – groove sheathing panels. Have one person stand on the edge of the sheet and hold it flat and snug against the previous row of sheathing. Another person can lay a scrap of 2x (to protect the groove from dam­age) against the sheet and hit it with a sledgehammer. A couple of licks should bring the two sheets together. If not, check the edge for damage or for an obstruction that may be holding the two sheets apart.

Coax panels into place. A couple of good wallops with a sledge will usually seat even an ornery sheet of tongue-and-groove sheathing. [Photo by Don Charles Blom]

Habitat

for Humanity6

HABITAT BUILDS BARRIER-FREE HOMES

Simple, single-story houses are not only less expensive to build but also lend themselves well to barrier-free (handicap-accessible) construction.

In addition to the obvious differences that relate to wheelchair accessibility—wider hallways and doorways, a ramp instead of a stairway at the entryway—many other smaller details help make these homes easier for their owners to use and enjoy.

The key to building or retrofitting a house for wheelchair accessibility is recognizing the modified reach of a seated person. You can start by raising the position of electrical outlets and lowering the height of light switches, closet poles, shelves, and coun­tertops. These easily made alterations help make day-to-day life more convenient for someone in a wheelchair.

Bathrooms and kitchens require special attention. Plenty of strategically placed grab bars are impor­tant; place them around the toilet and in and around the tub/shower. Extra space in the bathroom—so a wheelchair can get in and maneuver around—is es­sential, too. In the kitchen, lowered stovetop, sink, and cabinets help make it possible for someone in a wheelchair to prepare and serve meals and clean up.

Recognizing the increasing need for barrier – free housing, the Knoxville, Tennessee, Habitat affiliate sponsored a contest to design an adaptable, inexpensive, barrier-free house.

Two designs were selected as winners; both are available to any affiliate through Habitat for Humanity International. With the leading edge of the baby-boom population already past 60, more and more of us may come to appreciate housing that’s flexible enough to adapt to our needs a s the years go by.

—Vincent Laurence

perimeter of the building and at joints between the sheets and 12 in. o. c. in the field (the middle of the sheets). It’s best to nail the sheets soon after laying them, especially in hot weather, so that the adhesive doesn’t have a chance to set before the sheet is pulled fast to the joists. If nec­essary, snap chalklines across the panels to show the joist locations for nailing.

An efficient method is to have one team lay sheets and tack them at their four corners, then have another team follow behind, nailing off the sheets completely. In many areas of the country, carpenters use rough-coated, hot – dipped galvanized nails or nails with grooves cut in them (ring-shank nails) to ensure that the sheathing stays firmly secured to the joists.

on my lower legs from breaking through subfloors while working on job sites decades ago. The sheathing panels we use today are much better than 1×6 boards—yet another improvement over how houses were built in “the good old days.”

Sheathing with 4×8 sheets of tongue-and – groove plywood or OSB is not difficult, though the sheets can be awkward to handle. Carry them with a partner, if necessary, and take care not to damage the tongues or the grooves, which can make it more difficult to fit the sheets together. Be sure to use exterior-grade, 5/s-in.- or 3/4-in.-thick sheathing.

Snap a line to lay out the first sheathing course

When laying out long rows of 4×8 sheathing, it’s best to start from a control, or reference, line. On one side of the building, measure in 48/4 in. at each end and snap a chalkline across the joists. The first row of sheathing is laid and nailed di­rectly on that line. Getting this first row straight makes it easier to lay all subsequent rows.

Lay down a full M-in. bead of construc­tion adhesive on the joists beneath each sheet just before setting it in place (see the photo on p. 71). This makes the floor structurally stronger and cuts down on squeaks in the future. Lay the first sheet with its grooved edge right along the

control line, with one end on the center of a rim joist and the other end landing mid-joist—8 ft. to the left or the right. If a sheet doesn’t fall on the center of a joist, try pushing the joist over a bit. If this can’t be done, mark the sheet to length so the edge will land mid-joist, then snap a chalkline and cut the sheet. Finish sheathing the first row before moving on to the second one.

The second row of sheathing is installed much like the first, except that you begin with half a sheet (a 4-ft. by 4-ft. piece). This staggers
the joints, which makes for a stronger floor. If you’re building in a humid climate, leave about XA in. between the ends and the edges of the sheets to allow for expansion. This gap can be gauged by eye or by using an 8d nail as a spacer. The !/8-in. gap between sheets means that you will have to trim an end now and then so that each sheet lands squarely in the middle of a joist.

When plumbing pipes are installed before the sheathing, you must lay out and cut holes in the sheathing. The easiest way to lay out these cuts is to measure from the edges of sheathing already in place to the center of the pipe, then transfer those measurements to the sheet that the pipe will go through (see the illustration on p. 72). Cut the holes somewhat larger than the pipes, using a circular saw to make a plunge cut, as shown in Chapter 2. This makes it easier to lift the sheet and set it in place over the pipes. Later, seal the holes well to keep cold or moist air from entering the living space from below.

Secure the sheathing to the joists with 8d nails

When the last panel in a course of sheathing extends beyond the rim joist, cut it flush with the rim joist before nailing it down (see the photo at left). The typical nailing schedule for sheathing is 8d nails 6 in. o. c. around the

Many carpenters cut blocks with a chopsaw, which is fine if you have one. But there is another easy way to cut blocks. Try making a simple block-cutting tool to use with a circular saw. Once you have the guide, simply hook it on a 2x and make the cut along the edge.

joists, bridging is often visible between the rim joists and the interior girders or crib walls in the basement or crawl space of an old house. Stress tests have long shown that bridging provides little extra stability to a floor sheathed with plywood or OSB. My experience is that most midspan bridging does little except increase floor squeaks.

Blocking between joists, on the other hand, helps stabilize a building and keeps the joists from falling like dominoes under severe lateral stress, such as that generated by an earthquake
or high winds. Blocking is installed at the bearing points where joists cross girders or crib walls. On many houses, this is also the spot where joists from opposite sides of the building lap against each other (see the illustration on the facing page). To quickly cut identical blocks with a circular saw, use a jig like the one shown in the sidebar above.

If you’re building with I-joists, you’ll need to determine the length of the blocking on the job site, as I-joist width varies from manufacturer to manufacturer. The most common width

for residential I-joists is 9V2 in., so you can cut blocking from scrap pieces of I-joists or from 2×10 lumber. Cut the blocking to fit snugly between the chords of adjacent I-joists, and nail the blocking to the chords.

When nailing blocking between joists, it’s best to begin at one end of the house and simply work your way toward the opposite end. Sight down the length of the first joist (the one closest to the rim joist) and make sure it is running straight. Measure the first joist space and cut the block to length. Set the block on edge over a girder or a crib wall. Drive two 16d nails into one end of the block and two 16d nails through the floor joist into the opposite end. Then nail the joist directly into the girder with two 16d nails. Finish by nailing the lapping joists to­gether with two more 16d nails.

Once you have a few blocks nailed in place, use a tape measure to make sure the joists are maintaining an accurate 16 in. or 24 in. o. c. layout so that the sheathing will land mid-joist. If necessary, cut the blocks a bit short or long to maintain accurate spacing.

In many parts of the country, rough plumb­ing and heating ductwork are installed before the floor is sheathed, so be sure to check with those contractors before sheathing. Also, find out whether you need a floor joist inspection before you install the floor sheathing.

STEP 8 INSTALL THE FLOOR SHEATHING

Before plywood and OSB were readily available, we sheathed floors with softwood 1x 6s that were cut and nailed diagonally across the joists. To make the joints between the 1×6 boards, the ends of each board were cut at a 45-degree angle. Frequently, the 1×6 lumber was of poor quality and had large knots. I still have scars

Sheathing must be glued and nailed. Use a caulk­ing gun to apply a bead of construction adhesive to the joists’ top edges before installing the floor sheathing. The adhesive strengthens the floor and helps reduce squeaking in the future.

Lapped joists spaced at 16 in. o. c. require a block about 13 in. long between the joists.