Happy 4th of July !

Time to put the 45 degree bevel in the top plate. This process confused me a bit so I made a trial cut in a short 2x4. I nailed the board to my deck for the cut. It took me awhile, but then it dawned on me that if I am making a 45 degree cut in 1.5" thick wood, then my saw blade should be 1.5" from the edge - duh! I also relearned that when cutting angles, I can no longer use the right side guide on the circular saw; I have to use the left side guide! The handsaw in the picture also belonged to my grandfather.



This is what the test top plate and scrap stud look like after the bevel. The exterior sheathing overlaps this joint.



Next I temporarily nailed my 2x6 top plate to the deck to make my cut. Here is my saw half way through the cut.



And here is the finished 14' long bevel. Can I now get back to simple 90 degree cuts, please?



Now time to assemble the wall. I marked the top plate bevel for where the studs go; I had marked underneath but now couldn't see the marks. I used temporary screws to align the top plate with the outside of the studs. Then I hammered in 16 P nails. I removed the screws afterwards. When I do the other wall, I plan to put the 'low' side of the studs on the deck, to make attaching the top plate easier, since that edge will be against the deck.


Here is my finished side wall. Now that I know what I'm doing, I hope to bang out the second wall tomorrow. When I was finished for the day, I did a test 'lift' of the wall. I was easily able to stand up the wall by myself. Now granted my wall is 1 foot shorter in both length and height than the SS wall in the plans, but my wall has additional studs because I used 16" spacing instead of the 24" spacing in the plans. So I am reasonably certain that one person could raise a 15' SS wall.