3 QUESTIONS ON CUTTING THE RIGHT DIMENSIONS

[intelliQ]

Garage will be: 24deep x 26wide Reverse (eve entry) gable 16' high. 9' walls.

1) Do I cut the studs to 9'.......or do I cut them shorter to make the complete wall panels(studs and plates) 9' ?

2)Do I make ALL 4 walls short from reaching the corners of the foundation and put in corner studs (TIES) for each corner? Or just 2 walls?

3) On only one end my concrete slab width is short by 1/2". Do I ignore it and build my garage as planned at 26 wide on both ends, so that it overhangs that one corner by a 1/2"??

Thanks for any help....

[VALENT]

1 Order studs cut for nine foot walls (104 5/8) You don't need to cut anything this way. No errors.
2 Don't make walls short to add corner ties. These should be part of the wall framing, not add-ons.
3 I would build exactly on the slab. You'll never notice the 1/2 inch missing and it won't be easier or harder either way.

[intelliQ]

Thanks, Valent.

About 2) 2 walls have to be short right? At least short enough for the other walls to fit in between them?

Slightly confused about this. Even after getting a "How to Build a Garage" book, and looking at a whole bunch of diagrams on-line, none of the illustrations I've seen show this clearly enough for me to make out.

[Tom R]

Yes, two walls would be 'short' to fit inside the other two. Personally, I would 'compromise' the framing to the slab variation. In other words, make up 1/4 of that 1/2", but that's just another opinion.

[doyle]

Build the front and back walls first (26') making them fit the slab. If I understand you correctly, one of the walls will be 1/2" shorter than 26'. I would also just compromise as Tom suggested and go with 1/4" shorter.

The two end walls will then be 23'-5" to fit in between the first two walls. Of course the 7" allowance assumes you are using 2x4's for framing.

Valent made a good point about just buying the 104-5/8" studs to save you a lot of hassle.

The "how to build build a garage" manual should be a good guide for you to follow. Be sure and read it cover to cover, then read it again. You will pick up a lot of things and understand it all better the second time around.

Go to the library and check out some other garage books if the one you have doesn't have good diagrams.

[intelliQ]

Thanks everyone. I got it now. The studs are 104.625", I looked at my invoice list. I'll compensate 1/4 in stead of 1/2" on the shorter end.


Menards is delivering the stuff to me tomorrow morning.

I have almost the whole thing visualized, step by step, with notes. Tools are ready. :)

LAST QUESTION (I hope):

Would it be okay to pre-assemble all of the walls and then throw em up at the same time, or do one at a time and hope that the wall anchors and braces hold up?

[doyle]

I can't imagine how you would throw them all up at the same time. Build one wall at a time, stand it up, get it plumb and brace it well. Then repeat for the other 3 walls. All the walls will be really heavy....hope you have a wall jack or a lot of strong helpers. Will the sheathing be applied before standing it up?

[intelliQ]

The sheathing will be done later. A strong wind will mostly go right through the wall without the sheathing applied. I figured I'd do the whole garage structure with roof rafters, then start sheathing from the top down starting wiht the peak of the ridge.

I'll be able to get a person to help me push each wall up on a moments notice (father in law lives across the street thank God).

Thanks for all of your help.

I'll post a before and after pic when Im done. I figure the walls should be 2 days absolute tops, then ridge,rafters, and joists one day, and sheathing 2 days. Add at least a week because Im optimistic and a noob. So all in all this will anywhere from 1 to 3 weeks, lol.

[doyle]

You really should sheath the walls before you start putting up the roof. Otherwise you will have one very wobbly structure unless you plan on having a ton of bracing.

As for starting the sheathing at the top and working down....that would not be the correct way of doing it. The gable piece should be the last one to go in.

[mjpliv]

With regard to using the slab as a guide for building. I have yet to see a concrete slab poured perfectly square with perfectly straight edges. Use your chaulk line to snap a reference line along the inside edge of one wall (5-1/2" in from the edge of two corners). The opposite wall should have a parallel line referencing the inside edge of that wall. The end walls should be 90 degrees to the side walls. Measure corner to corner to make sure you have it right.

Sheet your walls before you stand them. Square your wall sections (measuring corner to corner again) before you sheet them. When you stand the walls the sheeting will keep the wall panels square. Plumb and brace the walls before adding trusses/rafters.

[Rich]

Not only sheet them before standing - we put the Tyvek on and everything. We've even set windows before standing the walls (small walls anyway). Big walls tend to flex a bit and windows don't like that much :)

[Tom R]

If you sheathe the roof first, and you get a 'big wind' that night, you may get to start over. Don't do it.

[Rich]

That reminds me of a story. A neighbor of my folks wanted to build a shed. Dad and I told him that we would build it for him - for nothing (neighborly thing to do right). We he's stubborn and wants to build it himself - which was a pretty big shed. Long story short - he sheets the roof and the next day he calls us and wants us to go down and remove his roof from the railroad tracks down the hill.
Wind came up that night and the roof was like a big sail - tore it off and toppled the walls down on his 71 corvette and 67 chevy.

[mjpliv]

On the flip side - locally there was a 4 storey wood frame apartment building (100 + units) being built. Two long walls, one end wall and the roof were sheeted. Someone got the bright idea to install all the windows and doors on the sheeted sections.

The next day we had a wind storm with the prevailing winds heeded right for the open end of the building. The pressure literally blew the building apart, exploding outward. Fortunatly, no one was in the building at the time.

[intelliQ]

Put up 3 wall structures, doing the front today and the roof framing.

I did not sheath the walls before standing them up. They were heavy enough as it was, plus I braced and staked them and is very solid. You guys mentioned the roof flying off of peoples garages, and that is the very same reason I did not sheath the walls yet - a strong wind will have something to push against, no? Plus, as a beginner, I didnt want to cut and assemble too much just in case make a big blunder somehow and the whole thing is way off and not square or something. Also, the How to Build a Garage book shows sheathing last.

Anyway, this has been much easier than I anticipated (so far). When Im ready, the guy down the street from me said he'll show me how to cut the bird's mouths (although I can visualize this step easy enough I want to make sure).


BTW, Menard's lumber isnt that good, alot of warpage. After hammering in the top of the wall studs to the top plate, I had to take vice grips to twist the other end straight while hammering into the bottom plates.

The end result is good though, everythings is straight now.

[marx]

Put up 3 wall structures, doing the front today and the roof framing.
Oh, you're doing the roof today...maybe this will be in your book. You should string the walls. Pull a string line very tight down the length of the wall, put a 2x4 behind it, then use another 2x4 block to check the straightness of the wall. Brace as needed. If half way down the wall your rafters didn't fit anymore the walls are probably wavy.

that is the very same reason I did not sheath the walls yet - a strong wind will have something to push against, no?

Well it's just a lot easier to sheet a wall laying down. You do need more backs to stand them up. We usually put temporary diagonal bracing on top of the walls in the corners when leaving something like this overnight.

BTW, Menard's lumber isnt that good, alot of warpage.

Sounds like the stuff we get around here. And people wonder where nail/scew pops in drywall come from.