another question about joists - is there an easier way?

[countryborn]

I posted a question a while ago about joist lengths.  a couple reasons why they were not cut right on - possible miscommunication between the layout person & the skill saw person (I keep trying to tell him that it will be easier to get all cuts straight & true with the table sawinstead of the skill saw), and, we were deliberately cutting 1/4 inch short so as to have some manuevering room.  my husband lifts the 2x10 joists into place by himself, & even the 10 ft ones are kinda heavy.  not to mention the doubled 2x10's, which are called for at each end of the basement, for 12 ft in from the ouside wall.
the joists go in hangers attached to the top of 9 ft walls.  no way to do it from the top - we are not that good at balancing on top of 8 in wide walls that are more than 9 feet off the ground.  my husband uses 2 ladders (or more).  he lifts one end of the joist as far as he can, then balances it on one rung of the ladder by the wall.  I support it there to keep it from falling off the rung.  (well, usually I keep it from falling off.)  then he goes over to the other ladder under the girder that supports the other hanger for that joist.  he picks up the end of the joist, carries it up the ladder, raises the end above the girder & drops the end into the hanger.  then he goes back to the first end, raises it over the hanger on the wall & drops it in.
so we had to have the joists cut a bit short so that we move them around to fit them in.
we don't get a lot done in a day.  we are in our fifties & I have had a desk job most of my adult life, so I am not as strong as I would be if I had been working a farm for the past 30 years.
is there an easier way to get those 2x10 joists in place?  something that doesn't involve dollars to rent equipment or dollars to pay someone else to do it.  we have NO extra dollars.
oh yeah, one more question - will it be o.k. to put up the tarpaper & the T1-11 siding on the walls, even though everything is wet?  it might not stop raining for 4 more months. 
thanks!

[MountainDon]

Regarding cutting the joists....  IMO, you get better more accurate results if the same person reads the tape measure, marks the cut line and makes the cut. Also for long things like joists I feel the hand held circular saw is better/easier than a typical table saw. If you had a radial arm saw with a long enough bench to support thr full length that would also be better than a table saw. In my opinion.

Without mechanical lifts, or hired help, I can't think of any other way to lift them. That's more or less the method I'd be using. All that ladder work builds the leg muscles.

The more work like that you do, the more muscles you'll have. My wife, some years younger than I (I=61+) found she grew new muscles this summer while were thinning and clearing forest.

Re the walls/building felt/T1-11. Are you sheathing the framing with something like OSB first? Then the building felt with the T1-11 over the felt?

[glenn kangiser]

Tarpaper/felt is better than any house wrap for starters.  If you used the rain screen wall it would be an improvement also.  You would do your sheathing, then put horizontal laths - 3/8 minimum thickness to fasten your T1-11 over.  This would leave a space between the felt and the T1-11 for drainage -- no capillary action to hold water in there for a long time.  Gaps on the ribbon lath end would help drainage also.

[countryborn]

we have 1/2 inch plywood sheathing.
how far apart for the horizontal rows of lathe?  it goes over the felt paper, right?
can I google "rain screen wall" for more info?
thanks!

[glenn kangiser]

I probably need to adjust my thinking for T1-11  because the rows of lath could go vertically also over the studs allowing unrestricted drainage.  This would allow normal fastening.  I was originally thinking of this for board and batten which would need them horizontal.  There are drain screens for the bottom  also which could cut down on bug space.  Strips of your 1/2 inch plywood sheathing over the sheathing and felt would work fine.

While T1-11 has less moisture problems than some of the others this would take care of any initial wet materials and prevent future problems also.

Here is a link from an old discussion - a search on screen walls here will bring up more stuff.

http://countryplans.com/smf/index.php?topic=468.0

[JRR]

I don't have much to offer on the lifting ... sometimes "grunting" is the only way.  (BTW, I've got you about 20 years!).  Sometimes I find it convenient to clamp on 2x4 "legs" and push/stand joists up to position.  Make the legs a bit on the long side so that the joists are higher than the hangers.  Get the joists over the hangers and slowly release the clamps.

If you tape-measure each joist, you're asking for mistakes.  I suggest you make a lightweight "pattern" out of a 2x4.  You don't have a 2x4 that long? ... then splice some together to make one.  Use the pattern to check each pair of hangers ... Does the joist need to be cut a bit longer or shorter than the pattern? .... then use the pattern to measure the joist, adjusting the cut accordingly.

[glenn kangiser]

For steel, I have used things such as a jig and a chain hoist, but it is not real practical for things that are not pretty heavy due to time involved.  Still -- if it is a real problem, Harbor Freight has cheap chain hoists that work well and frame could be made to do the job.  Lift from the underside of an extension ladder ? movable scaffold?  sliding frame on plywood  or plank walk on the finished portion of the second floor?  Modified automotive cherry picker rolling on the bottom floor?

Sometimes the solution is more work than the problem though.

[countryborn]

For the 21 ft long, 14 inch thick parallam, we did use a modified cherry picker, rolling on sheets of used plywood.  (we don't have the basement slab poured yet.)  That parallam was heavy, 400 lbs at least, so lifting just with muscle was not an option.
Thanks for the 2x4 measuring stick idea, JRR!  we will use that for the rest of the joist, & other cuts.
thanks to all for your help, we really appreciate it!

[JRR]

You're welcome!

"Measuring stick".  Yeah, I like that better than "pattern".  Just couldn't think of it.