Plumbing and Aligning

Figure 1-47.—Squaring a wall. been raised. The topmost plates are nailed so that they overlap the plates below at all corners. This helps to tie the walls together. All ends are fastened with two 16d nails. Between the ends, 16d nails are staggered 16 inches OC. The butt joints between the topmost plates should be at least 4 feet from any butt joint between the plates below them. Squaring Walls and Placing Braces A completely framed wall is often squared while it is still lying on the subfloor. In this way, bracing, plywood, or other exterior wall covering can be nailed before the wall is raised. When diagonal measurements are equal, the wall is square. Figure 1-47 shows examples of unsquared and squared walls. A let-in diagonal brace maybe placed while the wall is still on the subfloor. Lay out and snap a line on the studs to show the location of the brace (fig. 1-48). The studs are then notched for the brace. Tack the brace to the studs while the wall is still lying on the subfloor. Tacking instead of nailing allows for some adjustment after the wall is raised. After any necessary adjustment is made, the nails can be securely driven in. Raising Most walls can be raised by hand if enough help is available. It is advisable to have one person for every 10 feet of wall for the lifting operation. The order in which walls are framed and raised may vary from job to job. Generally, the longer exterior walls are raised first. The shorter exterior walls are then raised, and the comers are nailed together. The order of framing interior partitions depends on the floor layout. Figure 1-48.—Let-in diagional brace. After a wall has been raised, its bottom plates must be nailed securely to the floor. Where the wall rests on a wood subfloor and joists, 16d nails should be driven through the bottom plate and into the floor joists below the wall. Plumbing and Aligning Accurate plumbing of the comers is possible only after all the walls are up. Most framing materials are not perfectly straight; walls should never be plumbed by applying a hand level directly to an end stud. Always use a straightedge along with the level, as shown in figure 1-49, view A. The straightedge can be a piece ripped out of plywood or a straight piece of 2 by 4 lumber. Blocks 3/4 inch thick are nailed to each end. The blocks make it possible to accurately plumb the wall from the bottom plate to the top plate. Plumbing corners requires two persons working together-one working the bottom area of the brace and the other watching the level. The bottom end of the brace is renailed when the level shows a plumb wall. The tops of the walls (fig. 1-49, view B) are straightened (aligned or lined up) after all the corners have been plumbed. Prior to nailing the floor or ceiling joists to the tops of the walls, make sure the walls are aligned. Here’s how: Fasten a string from the top plate atone corner of the wall to the top plate at another corner of the wall. You then cut three small blocks from 1 by 2 lumber, Place one block under each end of the string so that the line is clear of the wall. The third block is used as a gauge to check the wall at 6- or 8-foot intervals. At each checkpoint, a temporary brace is fastened to a wall stud. When fastening the temporary brace to the wall stud, adjust the wall so that the string is barely touching the gauge block. Nail the other end of the brace to a short 2 by 4 block fastened to the subfloor. These temporary 1-28