Haun_Larry_-_The_very_efficient_carpenter

Let the sheathing run over at the edges of the building. The edges will be snapped with a chalkline and cut at one time after all the floor has been laid. Just be sure to make the cut before nailing so that no nails get in the way.

If you are not using adhesive, it will be quicker to nail off the floor once it is entirely laid. After each row is tacked down, make a mark with pencil or keel on the leading edge of the sheathing to mark the lo­ cation of every joist. This takes only a moment (it can be done while walking back to begin the next row) and makes it easy for the floor nailer to find the joist.

Once the first row of sheathing has been laid the length of the floor, begin the second row with half a sheet. These 4-ft. pieces can be cut right off the material pile. It's faster to measure and mark half­ sheets with a drywaller's T-square than with a tape and chalkline.

Sometimes it takes extra persuasion to unite T&G sheathing. One way to do this is for one person to stand on the sheet, holding it flat. A second person can drive this sheet into place by hitting a 6-ft. long 2x4, laid against the groove, with a sledgehammer, as shown in the photo at right. Don't hit the sheath­ ing directly. Two or three good licks on the 2x4 is usually enough to bring the two sheets together.

Don't nail within 6 in. or so of the leading edge until each succeeding row is laid. A little flexibility on this edge will make it easier to unite the T&G when laying the next course. Sometimes a joist will be bowed at midspan, which does not allow the end of the sheathing to break directly over the joist. Push the joist to the right or left by hand or with your feet until the end of the sheet aligns with the center of the joist and stick a nail through the sheathing into the joist to hold it in place. This saves you from having to make a cut on the sheath­ ing. If the joist can't be moved, a 4-ft. piece of 2x nailed to it can give bearing to the end of the sheet.

As you sheathe up to where the joists lap over a girder, you may need to nail on some 2x scrap pieces to extend the length of one joist and provide a nailing surface. Be sure to mark its location with keel to help keep the nailer on track.

Fitting tongues into grooves sometimes takes extra persuasion. With one person standing on the sheet, another can give it a couple of raps with a sledgehammer. Lay a 2x4 along the edge to protect the groove.

Sheathing Floors 59

Nailing sheathing

Building codes usually have a minimum "schedule" (list of requirements) for nailing sheathing (see p. 18), but plans may call for more nails if an en­ gineer determines that they are needed for extra shear bracing. Check carefully to see what size nail is called for and how they are to be spaced. A typical code requirement is 4-6-12, with nails every 4 in. on the perimeter (around the outside), every 6 in. at the joints and 12 in. on center in the field (in the middle of the sheet). The typical floor nail is an 8d box nail, but check the plans in case another type is called for. Occasionally you might be required to use

a screw nail or a ring-shank nail, or even drywall screws because of their increased holding power.

Sheathing can either be nailed with a hammer or with a pneumatic nailer. Nailers are certainly much faster, but they are also more expensive to own and operate than a hammer. In addition to the nailer, you need a compressor, air hoses and special nails. Unless you plan to build a number of houses, it's cheaper to use your hammer.

As much as possible, nails need to be driven straight into the center of the joists. If they go in at an angle they can come out the side of the joist and are more likely to cause a squeaky floor later on. Framers call these missed nails "shiners," because

SAFETY TIPS

Nailers

Nailers are most often powered by compressed air and, like any tool, they are potentially dangerous. Before using one, make sure that you have been fully instructed in its use and

Pneumatic nailers make it easy to nail down floor sheathing.

care, and read and follow the instruction manual. Don't use a higher air pressure than that recommended by the manufacturer, and always wear eye protection.

When you attach the nailer to an air hose, hold it away from you -nailers will sometimes fire a nail as the air pressure builds up in the cylinder even though they have a double safety. For a nailer to fire normally, you have to pull the trigger and simultaneously push a lever at the nosepiece onto a nailing surface. When you stop nailing, don't walk around with your finger on the trigger -if you bump the nailer against your leg you may release the safety on the nose and fire a nail. If you're just learning how to use a nailer, nail slowly and get the feel of what you are doing.

Take a break from time to time. Straighten up and look around. Nailing on a large subfloor is a little like driving down a long, straight road on a hot day with no air conditioner. You get mesmerized! A nail through the foot will wake you up, just like running off the road, but not without unpleasant consequences.

Sheathing Floors 61

FR AMING

WALLS

layout

Plating

Headers, Cripples,

Trimmers and

Rough Sills

Detailing

Building and

Raising Walls

Plumbing and

lining

Sheathing Walls

L----3

_-

Before beginning to layout wall locations, study	Layout tools
the plans at home. Look at all the pages and mark	Wall layout requires very few tools. You will need a
them up with colored pens (see pp. 12-13). For ex­	25-ft. and 50-ft. measuring tape, a chalkline, keel
ample, use red to note the location and size of all	(carpenter's crayon) and an awl. Chalklines, which
posts and beams, green for tall walls, yellow for win­	are available in both 50-ft. and lOO-ft. lengths, are
dow sizes. Circle and note everything out of the or­	inexpensive tools, and most framers carry several in
dinary, such as walls that need to be framed with	their tool bucket. You'll need more than one when
different-sized lumber, rake walls and high ceilings.	you're laying out on damp floors. A good chalkline
Many buildings these days call for 2x6 exterior walls	is geared so that it can be reeled in quickly.
because they can hold more insulation than the tra­	Most framers prefer to use cement coloring rather
ditional 2x4 wall. Thicker walls may also be required	than chalk when laying down lines. Chalk is much
in bathrooms to accommodate all the plumbing pipes	finer than cement coloring and requires you to fill
used for water and drainage. And when building a	the box frequently. Also, with cement coloring, the
three-story building, the first floor needs to be built	line can't be washed away easily by rain, as it can
with 2x6 or 3x4 walls to support the added weight	with chalk. In production framing, each job is often
from above.	done by different people, so the layout crew, for ex­
	ample, will use a different color to chalk their lines
	than the sheathers so as to avoid confusion.

You can layout an entire house using these simple tools.

Layout 65

If you have to layout walls that are longer than	Regular layout
your chalkline, a long string (dryline) will help. You	Begin your layout by cleaning up the floor. It's
can stretch the string the full distance of the wall,	much easier, and safer too, to work on a floor that
then make a series of marks along the string to guide	has been cleaned off. Now take a block the width of
your chalkline.	the wall (usually 2x4 or 2x6), lay it flush with the
Keel is used for writing on lumber and comes in	outside of the building at each corner and mark on
various colors. Carpenters usually use red or blue be­	the inside of the block with a carpenter's pencil. If
cause they show up best on lumber. When marking	the foundation isn't parallel, make your adjust­
on a freshly poured concrete slab, use white keel be­	ments at this point before snapping wall lines (see
cause other colors will fade.	p. 34). Stretch the chalkline tightly from one corner
A sturdy carpenter's awl driven into a wood floor	mark to another and give it a snap by pulling
or a new concrete slab can hold one end of a chalk­	straight up; chalklines that are released at an angle
line or measuring tape. You won't be able to drive	can leave a curved line on the floor. Only one chalk­
an awl into an older, cured slab, in which case a	line is needed per wall. This chalkline locates the
weighted-down coffee can will come in handy for	inside edge of the wall.
holding the chalkline.	Once all the exterior wall lines have been
	snapped, you can work off them to layout the inte­
	rior walls. There's nothing complicated about this
	process. Even though there are many different styles
	of architecture, the rooms within each style are pret-

/

	The locations for outside wall plates can be marked
	using a scrap piece of plate stock as a guide. Make
An efficient framer will make good use of an awl on	sure to hold it flush with the edge before marking.
a layout job. Stuck in the subfloo,", it can hold one	Do this at both ends, then snap a chalkline between
end of a chalkline or measuring tape.	the two marks.

66 Framing Walls

clear X, rather than a simple line, with keel to indi­ cate the location of the plate. This X is important. When it comes time to lay down the 2x plates, the X will indicate on which side of the line to place them. So every time you make a mark for wallioca­ tion, make an X right alongside it to indicate actual

plate location. Both ends of everyinterior wall have to be marked by measuring off the outside wall or another known point. Some interior walls will be laid out parallel to other interior walls. Once the end points are located, these marks are connected together with a chalkline to show the location of the bottom plate of a framed wall. Care must be taken to get the correct dimen-

sions from the plan and to be sure whether the mea­ surement is from outside to outside, outside to cen­ ter or center to center (see p. 14 ). It is important to follow plan dimensions care­ fully, but for most builders, plans are a guide, not a law from which they cannot deviate. For example, a wall between bedrooms might have a pipe coming up through it that has been installed off layout an inch or two. Rather than move the pipe, which is especially difficult on a concrete slab, move the wall a bit and make one bedroom a little larger. This "fudging" is not always possible, of course. For ex­ ample, exact measurements must be maintained when one wall has to be placed 60Y4 in. from an­ other to accommodate a bathtub. If a pipe were in­ stalled in the wrong place here, it's the pipe, not the wall, that would have to move. One problem is that plans don't always have the exact measurements you need. They may show, for example, that the bathroom is 60 in. wide, when in reality it needs to be 60Y4 in. or more, so that the tub you are using can be installed with ease. (The tub supplier or manufacturer may be a more reliable source for such information than an architect's plans.) Hallways are another example. A hallway wide enough to accommodate a header and king studs for a 32-in. door needs to be 40 in. wide be­

tween walls. At times when extra space is needed, walls can be made 1 in. wide by nailing the studs in flat instead of on edge. This is sometimes done at the back of a closet to add an extra 2 in. in depth. Very little attention need be paid to door and window locations at this point. All chalklines should be continuous, snapped straight through any wall opening. If you make a mistake in layout, make a clear correction. Rub out an erroneous chalkline with your foot or draw a wavy line through it before snapping another. Anytime you have something out of the ordinary,indicate what is to be done by writ­ ing on the floor with keel. For example, if you have a short wall, one that ends in the middle of a room,

The location of interior walls may have to be moved slightly to accommodate plumbing pipes.

68 Framing Walls