Tag: framing

Bump-Out Removal: New Exterior Wall

March 14, 2017 / Matt / 1 Comment

The first step in lopping off the bump-out is supporting the structure. As it turns out, the bump-out is not very well engineered. The roof of the house is supported by the North and South walls. In the case of the bump-out, the 2×6 ceiling joists have a clear span of about 14′ from the partition wall near the center of the house to the outside of the bump-out wall. There is a 2×4 flat across these joists that the rafters are notched into. A 2×6 is simply not strong enough to support any kind of load at a 14′ span. More alarming still is the fact that the walls of the bump-out are not framed well from a structural standpoint, with the window intersecting all but one of the bearing studs and, of course, no proper headers.

Bump-out ceiling structure

I framed a new section of exterior wall, including partial sheathing. Normally I would have just assembled the framing and put the sheathing on after it was in place, but there isn’t much space inside the bump-out to work once this wall is up. I left out the bottom of the sheathing because the last pieces of sheathing will also need to cover the ends of the floor joists after we cut them back, as well as the top corner so we can pass the windows back into the second floor after we remove them. If I was smarter, I would have put the gap in the middle course of sheathing so I’d have a nice doorway, but I’m not and I didn’t. As I mentioned in my previous post, the plan is to disassemble the bump-out from the inside, so I don’t have to spend a lot of time way up on top of a ladder, handling heavy chunks of house.

Framing and sheathing the new wall

Getting this section of wall tipped into place proved vastly more difficult than anticipated, because of the ceiling joists. In the center of the bump-out, the ceiling joists were sagging almost a half inch lower than the sides, simply because of the weight they were carrying. I didn’t want to frame the wall section short enough to fit, so instead I fought a contest of wills with the mostly-upright wall section and the ceiling joists, trying to hammer the section completely vertical without completely destroying it. I employed a number of methods to get it into position, including cutting the undersides of the bowed joists with a circular saw, using another stud to jack up the joist, and finally using two 3′ pry bars at the same time while kicking at the sill plate to get it the last inch into position.

Tipped up, but not all the way

Getting close

Still a gap at the bottom

Finally screwing into place

I went into my weekend thinking I’d have the wall up in a few hours, and instead it took both days. I didn’t even get it screwed into place until Monday evening. Even then I needed to use an array of clamps to get the sides aligned before I screwed it in. This is unfortunately how this project seems to go with some frequency. Hope springs eternal: maybe I can get the new sistered rafters into place with a bit less struggle.

Basement Interior Wall Framing

April 22, 2016 / Matt / 0 Comments

Since we’re not framing the exterior walls of the basement yet, we went straight to the interior walls, specifically the permanent walls for the bathroom and mechanical room. After Mario put in the mesh for the concrete, I went around and carefully measured locations for the walls and placed J-bolts to secure the sill plates, so that once the slab was poured we wouldn’t have to drill into it. The main reason for this was the radiant tubing in the slab: if you drill into the concrete and hit a tube, that loop is basically useless, and our floor only has three loops. Unfortunately, Mario informed me the day of the pour that because of the way they were screeding and finishing the floor, the J-bolts sticking up all over would get knocked over and interfere, so he pulled almost all of them out.

First wall section

I framed the wall in sections, pressure-treated sill plate and standard 2x4s, sill gasket under the pressure treated sill to prevent moisture wicking, coated screws for anything touching the pressure-treated lumber and regular screws and 8D nails for the rest. The uneven floor joists above required some shimming and I had to add blocking to a couple of sections where the wall was parallel to joists. I watched all my inside corners for drywall nailing edges and followed the tub instructions for framing around it. For the curb at the outside walls I built L-shaped pieces and attached them after the fact rather than try to build it with the section. I came back and installed an additional exterior half-wall for the utility sink and washing machine hookup, though in retrospect I might as well have just framed a full wall. I may reconfigure that, but I need to pick up some additional lumber since my original estimates proved low.

Bathroom framing

While the wall framing was pretty straightforward, we did run into some snags. For starters, the plumbers had put the toilet too close to the tub, something I could have had them fix if I’d noticed it before the floor was poured, say, back in October when they installed it. Because the toilet can’t move, I shifted the tub a few inches away, so the tub will have to use an offset drain and one of the few remaining J-bolts no longer aligned with the wall. They also managed to place a vent completely outside of the wall it was supposed to go through, but at least it’s inside the mechanical room where it won’t cause too much of an issue. I had to frame the wet wall of the bathroom with 2x6s because the plumbing alignment with the steel column wasn’t quite right, and I had to make some provisions for the steel beam that runs through the bathroom. In general, framing around all of the pipes sticking out of the floor was challenging.

Bathroom framing done

With all the walls up and framed and a few J-bolts secured, I spent a lot of time poring over the photos I took of the floor after Lester installed the PEX tubing, determining where exactly I could drill the floor and secure the walls with Tapcon screws without hitting anything. After several nerve-wracking drills, including one gush of concrete dust that I was certain was air escaping from the pressurized tube, I had all the walls secure and the pressure gauge on the PEX lines holding near 70psi assured me I hadn’t hit any. Whew.

Framing a door opening

Section installed

Mechanical room

Now the plumbers and electrician are working on their respective pieces. Once they’re done and we’ve passed inspection we’ll get to insulation, drywall and putting up the temporary walls. I’ve got a list of smaller items as well, like hooking back up the water filter, moving the water heater, running venting for the bathroom exhaust fan, and ordering the other fixtures: vanity, toilet, faucets, and utility sink.

First Floor Framing

October 10, 2014 / Matt / 0 Comments

It’s Fall now, and we really want to get spray foam insulation installed before winter hits. That means we need all the framing done, as well as rough plumbing and electrical. Fortunately on the first floor we have an open floor plan, so there isn’t all that much framing to do. In addition to a few walls we need to finish the fire blocking and add nailing edges to the corners.

Blocking added to wall

A few months ago, Dean came over and we got most of the fire blocking installed. The fire blocking consists of short pieces of 2×4 fit between the exterior wall studs at the floor, halfway up the wall, and behind the ribbon at the ceiling. They help prevent fire from spreading up the wall cavities, improve structural rigidity, add drywall nailing edges, and they’re required by code. Since we changed our plans, the only framing we need to do is the bathroom walls, the half-wall that divides the kitchen from the living room, and a small triangle of wall along the second run of stairs.

Empty corner by wet wall

First wall up

Second wall up

Last week I got the two bathroom walls up. As usual there was random shimming and allowances for our out-of-square house, but I must be learning because everything went pretty smoothly (except when one of the wall sections I had stood up fell over, broke the light, and almost crushed my camera). The walls are nice and straight despite the house and I didn’t have to take it apart to cut mis-measured boards.

Before

Full wall section

Half wall section

Last section of half wall

Sarah’s dad, Mike, was over on Saturday and together we built the kitchen walls. There’s a short section under the beam connected to a half-wall that divides the kitchen from the living room, with a walkway near the wall. That went fairly smoothly, though we did run into one section by the wall we had to redo to compensate for the non-trueness of the outside wall.

Fire blocking with holes and plugs

Sunday Sarah and I spent pretty much the whole day finishing the fire blocking. At the front and back of the house the floor joists run parallel to the wall, so if we’d put solid blocking in it would have closed off a pocket in the wall that couldn’t be spray foamed from below. To get around that I drilled 2″ holes in each piece of blocking so the spray foam installer can fill the pocket, put the little wood plug into the hole, then fill the rest of the wall.

Angled framing

Tuesday evening we framed the triangle of wall by the stairs and installed nailing edges at the corners. Wednesday evening our friend Mike came by with his truck and picked up most of our scrap metal pile in the basement, cutting down the big stuff with his torch. We need to clear all that out so the spray foam installers can get between the joists in the basement. We still have to get the tub and old boiler out, as well as some wiring, but it’s a huge improvement.

Mike’s truck loaded with scrap (also Derek)

Yesterday I took care of some furring by the front door to even out the wall. We’ve got calls out to our plumber and electrician to get them lined up and see how soon they can do the work. Local code requires we use licensed contractors for the work, and it will certainly take them a lot less time than it would us. That’s not to say we won’t have anything to do ourselves. We still need to add furring to the ceiling, even up some of the outside walls, install the security system wiring, speaker wiring, and cabling conduit, plus clean out the rest of the basement, not to mention finish up a bunch of odds and ends we haven’t gotten around to. The exciting thing is that once all that’s done and Lester does some prep for the radiant floor heating, not only can we get our spray foam insulation, we can start drywalling. It’s been so long coming that it’s exciting just to think about.

Sliding Door Installation

September 30, 2014 / Matt / 3 Comments

Back wall (before cleanup)

Now that the back porch stairs are out of the way, the next step toward getting spray foam installed is installing the back sliding door. My initial plan was to install the new sliding door first and then remove the existing back door, but the two wound up happening concurrently, since there wasn’t anything left to hold the sheathing on. We started by taking off the siding on the outside (fortunately only one layer here). I started and Sarah finished it up.

Sarah removing siding

Once the siding was down I cut back the sheathing, which is when we realized we needed to take out the back door. Sarah did that while I ran to the store and picked up some supplies. We are fresh out of reclaimed 2x4s that are over 10′ tall, which is what we needed to re-frame the wall. That meant I needed to get 12′ 2x6s and cut them down on the table saw to the right thickness (~ 3⅞”).

Sheathing removed

Sistered studs added

Studs removed for new sliding door

With the back door gone and all of the sheathing removed, I framed in studs where the old door had been, sistering two studs next to each other to support the cripples above the door. Once that was in place I cut out the studs on the other side to make room for the new door.

New sill installed

Doorway framed and sheathing going on

Sheathing installed

The first step in framing the opening was to build a sill, since the balloon-framed house has a sill several inches below the floor. I sandwiched a piece of 1″ thick poly-iso foam between two cut-down 2x6s. That later proved problematic, since the screws that go into the bottom of the door lined up with the foam, so they don’t have any holding power. Ideally I would have put in wood blocks that lined up with the screws, but I don’t think it’s going anywhere. Next I added jack studs, king studs and a header, also sandwiched with foam. Finally I installed sheathing, using reclaimed boards from the house instead of plywood or OSB. It might be cheaper, but after all the screws I used, I’m not so sure.

So far this is all fairly standard. At this point the job gets a bit more complex, as we’re planning 2″ of rigid foam on the outside of the house. To account for this, all the doors and windows sit 2″ further out than normal so they sit flush with the outside, which makes for a simpler flashing detail.

Dean installs furring

House wrap going on

House wrap installed

Dean came over to help with the installation, starting with adding the 2×4 furring that surrounds the door. At the bottom we have the existing porch sill, so we cut back the porch flooring and built up the sill to the level of the door. Hopefully when we replace the porch that won’t cause issues. If not, we’ll deal with that when the time comes. Once the furring was on we carefully wrapped it with house wrap. When we eventually re-side the house, the wrap around all the windows and doors will get taped to drain wrap on the rest of the house. For now we left the rest of the sheathing exposed, since it’s inside the back porch.

Adding exterior foam and flashing tape

The next step was to put ½” foam over the 2×4 furring. The 1½” thick furring plus the ½” foam will sit flush with the 2″ of rigid foam. I then used the same flashing detail I’ve done on the other windows and doors, putting 4″ Weathermate tape down the side corners and a plastic sill pan at the bottom. I added a piece of sill gasket under the drain pan to further seal the bottom of the door before we add caulk.

Sliding door installation

The last step was to tip in the door and screw it into place. We wound up cutting custom wood block shims on the top and side to secure it properly, but everything was level and plumb for a change so it went fairly smoothly. I still need to add more Weathermate tape to the outside at the top and sides to complete the waterproofing, as well as Great Stuff and backer rod on the sides and top, but since this is in the porch there’s no particular rush.

Derek tries out the new door

The door looks great, and even though it only opens onto the enclosed back porch for now, we can tell it will bring in lot of light once the porch is gone. The relocated light switch is now pretty inconvenient, but I’m sure we can deal with that for the time being. Now we can finish up the fire blocking and get to spray foaming!

Landing Subfloor

August 21, 2014 / Matt / 1 Comment

Normally I wouldn’t dedicate a whole post to a little section of subfloor, but the landing turned out to be a bit involved. When I started building the and fitting the stringers I realized that the landing was wonky. It was ¼” too tall and it wasn’t square. To compensate for being too tall, I decided to use half-inch plywood subfloor instead of ¾” OSB. However, ½” is pretty thin for subfloor, so I devised a scheme for fitting sections of ¾” OSB in between the framing members, glued to the underside of the plywood (and to the framing) to add strength and thickness.

Test fitting OSB

If the landing had not been out of square, this would have been pretty straightforward: just cut some rectangles to fit and done deal. However, given the out of squareness, everything was parallelograms. I’ve learned not to measure things any more than I have to. Measuring introduces more inaccuracy than it eliminates. Instead I put the OSB on top of the opening (generally lining up one edge) and drew the shape from below. Then I cut it out along the lines with the circular saw and fit it into place.

It worked fairly well, though I discovered after I had glued and screwed down the plywood (though thankfully not before it had dried) that one piece that fit between the stair stringers would not fit in from below because I sistered 2x4s to the stringers. I had to unscrew the corner of the plywood on top and slide it in (actually I had to do this three times because it kept falling through). Finally, once everything was in place and the glue was setting, I put in about 7,000 screws.

Landing subfloor installed

In one section the OSB was squeaking when I walked on the landing. I considered that it might go away once the glue set, but rather than take the chance I used a long 2×4 to press the underside of the OSB up against the subfloor and tightened all the screws. I left it that way until the glue set and now it’s all feeling solid and squeak-free. With this done I can work on the second run of stairs up to the second floor.

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