You regulars out there may remember my post about whether to buy this 28 x 22 garage frame panelized or stick build it.
All you pros agreed, stick build it. Sh*t, should only take a couple guys about 6 hours to knock it up.
Well, we bought it as loose sticks and a truss package, and just about got things to dried in stage today.
Jack’s not a hack, but he’s not a production framer, either. His bags are Oxys. I’m just an old fart, a dilettante when it comes to framing, and my bags are some cheap no-name cordura type I got off the rack at the lumberyard store.
Here’s the stuff I carried in my pouches and actually used so far. Tape, pencil, knife, hammer, speedsquare, end nippers, catspaw, large punch, snips, chalkbox, and keel crayon. I brought and carried, but didn’t use the torpedo level or the Tajima plumb-rite plumbob. Jack’s got every Stabila they make.
First, a caveat. This garage frame is built on 8″ poured walls on three sides, sticking above the slab 6″, with the slab lip level across the front elevation, which has the two 7×9 doors and one mandoor. It is much easier to frame walls off a wood deck than this deal.
Second, the weather has been uncooperative.
On day one we got, the two of us, the three no-brainer walls up and braced, with sheathing and felt on before we raised them. This, while three inches of new dry snow fell on us steadily. We used the brooms and gas leafblower a lot, so we could use chalklines and nail along the alignment lines on the OSB.
Day two, no snow, we took 4 hours doing the front wall with the openings. Slab elevation was all over the map, so we had to shoot every stud length. Started late, quit early.
Yesterday, Jack’s dad helped along with a guy named Leon who said he couldn’t climb a ladder, because it was truss day. We started at 10, erected some picks along both eaves, got our bracing ready, dealt with the bitchy delivery guy with the trusses, who, although unloading them with a boom, said he couldn’t put them on the walls as a batch, had to put them on the ground. Something about insurance.
One of the commons had a busted web piece. We farted around fixing it.
Used Jack’s propane torch blower (really a cool tool) to melt and blow the 2″ of solid ice off the plates so we could see our layout marks. By sundown (4:36 pm) we had the trusses up and braced, lookouts and barges on, subfascia in place, frieze blocks in, and half the roof sheathed.
Last night it snowed, and it was windy and plus 6 degrees at 8 am. We decided to wait until 10 to start. Started with 30 minutes of snow removal. Got the rest sheathed, then did the papering, rake and fascia, dripedge, and most all the shingling, before we knocked off at 3:45.
Not bad for a couple of amateurs. But this hack (I’m 60) needs a soak in the hot tub.
Remind me to wear my kneepads tomorrow when I finish up with the 3-tabs and pop on the ridge.
Replies
Lord, hope I'm going that strong in 9 years....
You animals are making the rest of us look bad. ;)
Sounds good ...
the only mistake I see is waiting for it to warm up on the last day ...
it never really warms up ... not enough to do any real good ...
anyways ... my Dad's 75 ... he's good on jobs like this ... he'll sit outside all day and yell and point at stuff that need to be done ...
If ya need a really old guy to yell at ya ... every now and then when you aren't looking he'll climb a ladder and point out a layout mistake .... I'll send him over.
He's good on the production end of things ...
he usually travels with a folding aluminum chair ... so the set-up shouldn't be a problem ...
plus ... he likes the cold.
6+ deg ... he'd be calling ya little girls ...
you'll learn to like that ....
Jeff
me ... I'd sleep in ... mornings like that are meant for more covers!
Buck Construction
Artistry in Carpentry
Pgh, PA
It's sixteen below this morning, dawn of the last day. Sun's up, and we'll wait until around ten to start.
One thing for sure, those shingles pop on the score line when it's cold like this. Almost like snapping Durock.
Your dad sounds like the guy my dad learned from- his first boss..
From the stories I've heard, they would bring 3 horses to a job; 2 for material, and 1 for him.
He would plant himself on the horse and give orders all day long.
I think he was over 80 when he finally retired.