The Walls

Overview

The walls keep the roof up, keep the elements out, and the birds in. My loft will have two end walls 8 feet wide and 8 feet high. The front wall will be 20 feet long, and 9 feet high, while the back will will be 20 feet long and 8 feet high.

Materials Used

Later...

Tools Used

Later...

Design Blueprint

Later...

Procedure

I framed and sheathed my two side walls (8 x 8 feet) on the deck ( Picture 1). I then moved the walls off on to the ground while I framed the front wall (8 x 19'5") on the deck.

I then moved the side walls on top of the front wall frame on the deck. From there, I raised the side walls (with the help of my wife), plumbed them, and braced them to the rim joists (Picture 2 and 3).

After both side walls were up, we raised the front wall. I nailed the front wall end studs to the side walls end studs (Picture 4), and attached the cap plates over the joints that the front and side wall corners made where they come together.

Framing the back wall was a little easier than the front wall, as there is no door opening to frame. The height of the wall was greater than the width of the deck (Picture 5), so we did have to lift the wall up a bit to make sure it didn't slide off the side of the deck. While Roxanne held the wall up, I quickly nailed some stop blocks to the end of the deck to make sure the wall didn't slide off while we raised the wall to it full height.

With the front and back wall raised, I can begin attaching the external paneling sheathing to the wall studs (Picture 6 and 7).

Click any picture for an enlarged version.

Picture 1 The end walls are framed, sheathed, and laying on the deck.	Picture 2 Roxanne helps me raise and level the side walls
Picture 3 The side walls are plumb and braced - note the front wall frame laying on the deck	Picture 4 The front wall raised. No braces are used here because it fits very snugly against the side walls. Maybe a brace in the middle to the deck floor wouldn't be a bad idea.
Picture 5 My back wall is slightly wider than the deck, so I had to rebrace the side walls to make room for it on the deck. Before removing the braces to the deck, I drove a stake into the ground and braced the side walls to it. Then I removed the deck braces and framed my back wall. Here it is ready to be raised.	Picture 6 Here the sheathing has been attached to the front wall, with the exception of a little bit above the door header. You can see the raised back wall through the door opening.
Picture 7 Inside the loft. I still need sheathing on the back wall (to right of view, unseen). Also, either I need a roof now, or this is one heck of an "open loft."
The front wall (8 x 20 feet) would have been too heavy to lift with sheathing, so I am sheathing it after it's raised. Since I don't have a helper for this, I support the 4 x 8 sheet of paneling on temporary blocks while I position it. Once positioned, I can nail it in and remove the blocks.