Whether you are building a house or a shed, sound framing techniques are the key to success. If you don't establish a solid framework, you'll fight the flaws for the rest of the project and your schedule will go out the window. I'm here to share some of the efficiency secrets that have kept me afloat in the competitive homebuilding market for nearly 16 years. Some of the techniques I use today date back to basics I learned in trade school. Other tricks come from firsthand experience and the challenge of making framing less complicated than it looks.
Be picky
The ability to achieve good results with imperfect lumber is what separates a craftsman from a hack. The first step is to evaluate each piece of lumber as you lift it off the pile and to reserve the straightest pieces for the plates and the studs at windows, doors and outside corners. Return the really bad lumber or plan to cut it into short lengths for cripples and blocking.
To mark and sort lumber, sight down the edge of the board. Then mark a pointing toward the crown (the convex or humped edge). If the piece is flat as a board (whoever coined this phrase wasn't a carpenter!), mark it with an O and set it aside for priority locations. Mark the reject boards with an X. Later, when assembling a wall on the platform, point the > up so all the crowns will face the same direction as you lay out the pieces for nailing. The wall will look straighter with a long, subtle bow than if it waves in and out every 16 in.
Marking time
Everyone knows that studs typically are 16 in. or 24 in. on center. But you'd be amazed how many people fail to anticipate where the sheathing joints will fall when they lay out the positions of the studs on the plates. Plan to center the joints on the studs so that each piece of sheathing has support behind the edges for nailing. Here's the best way to do it.
Tack the top and bottom plates together with a couple nails and lay them on edge. If your sheathing will be installed flush with the end of the wall, drive an 8d nail into the edge 15 - 1/4 in. from the end. If the sheathing will overhang the framing to cover the edge of the sheathing from the other wall, subtract the thickness of the sheathing from the dimension: for instance, drive the nail at 14 - 3/4 in. if you are wrapping 1/2 - in. plywood.
Hook your tape rule on the nail head (that's what that slot is for) and use the red 16 - in. - OC numbers to mark the edges for each stud. That will place the edge of the fourth stud at 47 - 1/4 in., so the sheathing joint will be centered on the 1 - 1/2 in. - wide stud. Hooking the tape over the nail also makes it easier to lay out walls when working alone.
Assembling walls
Whenever a new guy joins my crew, I give him a practical lesson on how to use the pneumatic framing nailer safely and effectively.
In a perfect world, you would keep every part of your body out of the line of fire when joining studs and plates. In reality, you need to hold the stud against the plate and adjust the height so it is flush with the edge. The key to avoiding serious hand injury is to grip the stud at least 6 in. back from the plate when firing the bottom nail. Then remove your holding hand when firing the top nail. That way, if the nail hits a knot and blows through the edge, your hand will be out of harm's way. Along with these precautions, wear safety glasses, take your time and concentrate on what you are doing.
It also pays to think ahead when nailing the second piece in a double top plate. Always drive the nails in line with the edges of the studs. You won't hit the hidden nails that secure the studs, and you won't drill into a nail later on if you need to run cables or pipes through the plates.
Gun nails are not nearly as effective as ordinary 16d nails when you need to draw two framing members into alignment, such as a double header over a window where one of the pieces of lumber is crowned. Toenail the crowned piece at a steep angle to suck it down. If you toenail with the nail gun, give each nail a good smack with your hammer to draw it tighter.
Sheathing secrets
One of the drawbacks of securing sheathing with a pneumatic stapler or nailer is that you can't feel whether you have hit or missed the framing. After a while, you learn to hear the difference (a miss creates a higher - pitched sound). To greatly improve your odds of hitting the studs, mark the sheathing before you install it. Then hold your gun perpendicular to the studs so both legs of the staples hit the line. This reduces the risk that one leg will miss the stud.
Some sheathing products are premarked at 16 and 24 in. If your material isn't, hold a carpenter's pencil against the hook of your tape and use your other hand as an edge guide as you move alongside the stack. Keep in mind that OSB (oriented strand board) has a smooth side and a rough side. I always mark the smooth side for cutting because it's easier on both my pencil and my saw. The lead wears out too fast and the saw doesn't slide as freely on the rough side. With soft material, such as the BiltRite sheathing shown here, you can score the surface with the hook itself.
Cuts in sheathing don't have to be perfect, but they should be straight. To improve your accuracy, hold a thin piece of scrap lumber against the side of the saw base and use your other hand as an edge guide. Some carpenters wrap duct tape around the forefinger of their holding hand at the beginning of the day to avoid splinters if they know they will be ripping a lot of plywood or OSB. It's not a bad idea, especially if you won't be wearing gloves.
It's said that framing contractors don't recognize any dimension smaller than 1/8 in., but that's only half true. On my jobs, one guy cuts while the others measure and nail. To avoid misunderstandings when we shout dimensions, it's understood that everyone calls fractional dimensions in eighths. For instance, 109 - 2 always means 109 - 2/8 in. (also known as 109 - 1/4 in.). Similarly, 72 - 3 can only mean 72 - 3/8 in. That way, we don't have to worry that the cutter will make it 3/4 rather than 3/8.
When it comes time to install sheathing on a standing wall, drive a couple of nails between the bottom plate and the foundation and let them hang out an inch or so. Rest the sheathing panel on the nails while you position it.
Club member Kraig McKown is a Plymouth, Minnesota, homebuilder.