Framing alone.

[Jared]

Anybody here ever frame a house alone? Could it be done in 8 foot sections and then tied together with the top plate? Or should I just plan to find some help for the framing?
Jared

[peg_688]

Anybody here ever frame a house alone?  

    Yup    

   Could it be done in 8 foot sections and then tied together with the top plate?  

 
   Why so small? And yes the top plates tie it all together in the end . (Wall jacks make one of us as strong as ten of us.)  


 Or should I just plan to find some help for the framing?


  First time ?  Humm ? I wonder what of all I've ever done that I didn't have some OJT to do.  That's hard to say have you ever built anything ? Cabs , tables , etc ? Any tool use in your background ? Shop class in H/S ?   You do know how to dail 911 right , like to a old carpenter buddy for some help ?  

  So again it depends , get those diapers out Glenn .   As it all depends on  Jared's , abilieties.

 I love to work alone , and I talk to myself and respond and it's a great day at work    Good luck , PEG  

[Leo]

Ive walled up my cabin alone and last trip down set the rafters.Working in approximate eightfoot sections. wall 2x6 on 16"centers 12 foot high,roof rafter pairs 2x8 13ft 4'' with 2x6 collar ties all with little problem except for the wall that fell off the side.just take youre time and think it through.    I agree with peg its been fun. If you get to a point where things get dicey stop and think it through

[jb(Guest)]

Ditto....I've done pretty much all of my cabin remodelling by myself, including setting 11 trusses, the front and back gable, the wall studs, panelling, the elevated plywood floor, and installed a wood burning stove. "Think it through" is good advice. And as someone has quoted here in the past, "When in doubt, build it stout, with something you know about". Another good aspect of the sole-builder is that when you smash your thumb with your hammer, you can scream all of those famous bad words as loud as you want, and no one will hear you ...

[glenn-k]

Depends---------PEG, you are stealing my lines - I feel my humor is being wiped out.  I hope I am not flushedwith anger :'(  Just kidding - I'm not.  Had to figure out a way to use those words though.

Here is a good reference from John's book section- a friend already bought one for me, although I nearly always work alone and have put up most of the underground cabin alone as well as the last log that was 24 feet long and probably weighed about 4000 lbs-- OK - so it was with the help of my remote control crane.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1561582867/countryplanscom

[Daddymem]

I like that book...it is nice and small so you can tuck it away in your truck for easy reference.

[Leo]

My most prized moment was when the tarp 28x48 fastened 28 foot side to the bottom of the 16'wide victoias  the other end was draped over the first two rafter pairs and its corners each tied to the top plate as afternoon rain was expected when along came a sudden storm .the entire thing filled with wind.standing on the second floor(temporary)I felt the entire structure shudder before I could undo the top corners .for a moment I felt as if I were sailing again,but it all held  The suprising part is the rope did not tear out the grommets.There were some choice words then.

[Jimmy_Cason]

I am a first time builder so this may not be correct.. But,This is how I did it.

I framed in my first floor in 10 foot sections.
Because my house will be 20'x 40' It took two-10' sections each to build the back wall and front wall. And four 10' sections each on the side walls.
For each section I started by building a 10'x8' rectangle then adding studs on 16" centers from one end of the house.
So I ended up with extra studs in every wall at the point were the sections meet.
Finally I came back and set the top plate overlapping the connection points in the center of a board.