The main framing
Now we are at the stage when
things appear to be really happening. Although so much goes into the
foundations and flooring of any house, it is not until the walls go up that the
house
construction seem to be getting somewhere.
We decided to take the easy way out and opt for pre-nailed frames in lieu of
"stick built" frames. As with gang-nailed trusses, pre-nailed wall frames
come in pre-constructed wall panels, whereby most of the hard work has been done at
the factory. In a way, erecting wall frames is much like building
something with Lego, except when it is up, hopefully it stays up. In our case, a number-coded layout was
supplied along with the frames, making it easier to figure out which wall panel
went where, relative to the plan.
Starting off, the first wall frame was tacked in position, held upright and
braced with stays. Each subsequent
frame was clamped to one already in place, tacked and braced until all the wall
frame were
positioned upright,
interlocked with clamps and fully supported with temporary bracing.
With all the wall framing set in place it was a matter of permanently fixing and
tying everything together. Some of the temporary timber bracing was
replaced with nailed metal strap bracing.
THE WALL FRAMES (Viewed
CW)
Hold this while I get the next one...
All together now, lift...
Attaching the ribbon plate...
The end of stage one...