Plumbed and Braced

The work I did today was very important if Jon and his family want to live in a house that does not lean one way or another; if they want walls that are straight up and down.

Notice all the diagonal braces in the garage. I started at the back corner and with my four foot level plumbed the corner each way and braced it. Once you plumb one corner the two adjacent ones will be plumb in one direction because of how the walls were laid out. You always choose the top and bottom plates of the same length and the studs are all the same length so you know the adjacent corner will be parallel and thus plumb.

The diagonal brace holds the interior garage wall plumb end to end, but there are several walls coming into that garage wall that need to be checked. Also, if you sight down the wall it needs to be straight. A tight string is often used to check for straightness. Another job that is usually done at this time is to double plate the top of the walls to strengthen then and tie them together. At the corners the plates overlap each other to hold the adjacent wall corners together.

A view from the garage into the back entry where there is a closet on the left and a door out to the patio. To the right is the entry into the kitchen and dinette area. Notice that I have removed the bottom plate from the doorways.

Straight ahead is the half bath. To the left is the front entry and to the right is the back entry where we just came in. All of these walls are now plumb both ways; end to end and sideways. Notice that the double plate is missing from the wall on the right.

This is the front entryway. The top plate is missing here also and the stairs are yet to be built; actually they are built.

Here is the kitchen and dinette area and is where I am working next. I am getting ready to build those stairs that I said were already built.

That wall is yet to be built that tie the two structures together. A new wall is needed because it will be a load bearing wall. The stairs will take a day and that wall will take another day and I have another day of work in the basement. That is three days and I have three work days left before Jon comes home from vacation so I guess I had better get back to work.