Starting the walls

I spent 5 days this past week at the job site. My excavator had been busy building support walls with rocks from the property !

He finished installing the septic tank and leeching field the previous week.

The first day was spent aligning the tongue and groove floor and nailing it down. I am building the walls in 12 foot long sections. I found that I can lift this length of wall by myself if it contains 4 studs and one sheet of plywood. I then add studs to the standing wall and additional sheets of plywood to strengthen it.

First I cut the opening for the ledger board, which will hold up the loft joists. I clamped the wall studs together and made cuts with the circular saw. Then I went back with the wood chisel and removed the little blocks of wood. I was surprised that this was a fairly easy task to do.

I test fitted a piece of wood and it fit fine.

I marked out the location of the studs on the top and bottom plates. After nailing the studs to the top and bottom plates, I checked for squareness and then nailed down a piece of plywood to keep the wall square. I used some rope to keep the wall from moving too far in the wrong direction, and some scrap wood to keep the bottom plate from sliding off.

I wanted to get one end wall up to reinforce the long wall, while I am back at home.

I averaged one 12 foot wall section each day, working alone. This picture shows what I accomplished by the end of the week.

I added some support under my trap door, so I don't end up unexpectedly in the cellar.

I'm planning to head up in a few weeks to continue building the walls.