Framing WallsSpeed and efficiency are the results of a careful, well-thought-out layout

by Scott McBride

I've heard a lot in recent yearsabout the speed and the efficiencyof California framers, but I find ithard to imagine anyone faster thanthe Italian-American carpenterswho taught me to frame walls inthe suburbs north of New York City.These men worked with an extraor-dinary economy of motion.

I want to discuss wall framing ingeneral and, more specifically, topoint out some of the methods andtricks I learned while working withNew York carpenters. Even thoughsome of these framing methods dif-fer from those practiced elsewherein the country, they have workedwell for me, and I think they canwork for anyone who wants to bemore efficient on the job.

Carpentry has a vocabulary all itsown. Stud, jack and header all havemeanings outside the carpentryworld, but to a framing crew these terms havespecific definitions as components of a wall. Ifyou are confused by a sentence that reads, "Toe-nail the king stud to the bottom plate," then youshould familiarize yourself with the drawing onthe facing page.

Snapping chalklines—The first step in anywall-framing method is snapping chalklineson the plywood deck to indicate the locationsof the various walls. Wall locations will be shownon the plans. First, I snap lines for all the exteriorperimeter walls. If I'm building 2x6 exterior walls—which I usually am these days—I use a 2x6block to gauge a mark in. in from the edge ofthe deck at each end of each wall. To position

the block, I sight down to the comerof the foundation or of the storybelow, aligning the outside edge ofthe block with this vertical lineof sight (photo below). You can'tdepend on the rim joist (called thebox beam in New York) for register-ing the block because the rim joistis often warped out of plumb. Stay-ing in line with the true corner is de-sirable, even if it means a bump inthe sheathing at floor level. Other-wise the building tends to grow asit goes up, causing inconsistenciesin the span that can complicate theroof framing.

After making a mark on all thecomers of the deck at in., I con-nect the pencil marks with chalk-lines. I anchor the end of my chalk-line with an awl tapped into thedeck. When all the exterior wallsare snapped out, I move on to the

interior partitions, taking measurements fromthe plans and transcribing the lines onto thedeck. I snap only one line for each wall andscrawl big Xs on the deck with my lumber cray-on. The X indicates the side of the line where thewall goes. If there are 2x6 interior partitions aswell as ones made of 2x4s, I indicate with mycrayon which partitions are which.

Plating the walls—Plating is the process of cut-ting to length the bottom and top plates of thewalls and temporarily stacking them on the deck(photo above). They can then be marked up toindicate where the various studs and headerswill get nailed. In essence, I temporarily put all ofthe walls in place without the studs in them. My

Plated and detailed. Information written on the wall plates and thegirders defines how the walls are put together. The author also lays outthe second-floor joists or roof rafters before assembling the walls.Different-colored ink is used to denote a change in stud length.(Penciled guidelines were drawn on the lumber only for the sake ofneatness in this article. It is not common practice for the author.)

2x6 template. A 2x6 block is used to markan exterior wall's width on the plywood deck.The author sights down to the floor below tomake up for possible irregularities in the align-ment of the floor joists.

method of framing differs a little from some oth-ers in that I cut the doublers now and stack themon top of the other two plates for a three-layerpackage. Later I'll explain why I do this.

Before cutting any lumber, I think a little aboutthe order in which I want to raise the walls be-cause this sequence determines how the comersof the walls should overlap. Where walls inter-sect, one wall runs through the intersection. Thisis called the bywall. The other wall ends at the in-tersection. This is called the butt wall.

By-walls have bottom and top plates of thesame length that run through the wall inter-sections. The doubler of a bywall is shorterthan the top and bottom plates by the width ofthe intersecting wall's plates (drawing above).This allows the doubler from the intersecting buttwall to lap the top plate of the bywall. Nailingthrough the doubler at the lapped corner intothe top plate of the intersecting wall holds thewalls together.

It is a good idea to cull through your lumberand save your straightest pieces for the longesttop plates and doublers. I use the next-best stufffor the bottom plates, which are easier to straight-en by nailing to the subfloor. The crooked stuff Icut up for short walls.

There are a couple of things to keep in mindwhen you are cutting to length the plates and thedoublers. Butt joints in the bottom plate can oc-cur almost anywhere. Splices in the top plate-the middle layer—should be offset as much aspossible from adjoining walls and beam pock-ets. Here's why: The integrity of the top-plate as-sembly—the top plate and the doubler nailed to-gether—depends on having well-staggered joints.An interruption of the doubler is inevitable atwall intersections and beam pockets, so keep-ing the joints in the middle layer away from these

points will maintain good overlap and avoid aweak spot. Splices in the doubler should be keptaway from splices in the top plate by at least 4 ft.

If two walls cross each other, you'll have to letone of them run through the intersection andseparate the other into two butt walls. The butt-wall doublers can split the overlap, with a joint inthe middle of the bywall. Another option is to letone of the butt walls overlap in a full conven-tional tee. The other butt wall gets no overlap,but instead it is tied to the intersection with asheet-metal plate on top of the doublers after rais-ing the wall.

To commence plating, the bottom plates aretoenailed to the deck on the chalkline, using 8dcommon nails about every 8 ft—just enough tohold them in position. The top plates—the middlelayers—are then temporarily toenailed to thebottom plates. Finally, I lay down the doublers—the third layer—over the top plates, but insteadof tacking them temporarily, I nail them homewith 10d common nails staggered 24-in. o. c. Iuse 10ds here instead of longer nails because the10ds won't penetrate the bottom plates.

Remember, at the corners where the wallsmeet, the orientation of the butt joints is reversed,creating the overlap in the doublers that willultimately lock the walls together. I don't nailthe overlap now because I'll have to separate thewalls later.

Detailing the plates and the doublers—When all the plates are laid down and held to-gether, and the doublers are nailed in place, I'mready to mark them up, or detail them, with theinformation my crew and I will need to framethe walls. The first information recorded on thedoublers is the width of the door and windowrough openings in the exterior walls. The rough-

opening marks I make on the top of the doublerare discreet, only about in. long. I'm savingmost of that surface for a later step in the layout.

If windows or doors are shown on the plansdimensioned to centerlines, I measure from theoutside corners and mark the centerlines onthe outer edge of the doubler. Then I divide therough-opening dimension of the door or windowin half. For example, if the width of the roughopening for a pair of French doors is 6 ft. 4 in., I'llalign 3 ft. 2 in. on my tape with the centerline,then mark lines at O and 6 ft. 4 in. To check myarithmetic, I turn my tape around end for end.The center should still be at 3 ft. 2 in. I make a Vto indicate the rough-opening side of each line(top photo, facing page).

Rough openings for interior doors are markedthe same on the interior-wall doublers as for ex-terior doors, but the plans will usually call outthe size of the finished door rather than a roughopening. To find the rough opening of a door, Iadd 2 in. to the width. This allows for a -in. thickjamb and a -in. shim space on both sides.

After locating a rough opening on the doubler,find the length of its header. Openings of lessthan 6 ft. will require one jack stud, or trimmer,on each side of the opening to support the head-er. Each jack stud is in. thick, so the headerneeds to be 3 in. longer than the width of theopening. (Because of variations in the actualthickness of 2x stock—studs can vary in thicknessfrom in. to in.—it is a good idea to mea-sure the lumber you're working with, then doyour addition.) Headers over 6 ft. long requiredouble jack studs on each side. That means thelength of the header must be 4 times in., or6 in. longer than the width of the rough opening.

I use a 2x block as a template to mark the jacklocations on the outside of the rough-opening

marks. I square the outermost mark down acrossthe stacked edges of the three layers of 2x. Thisline indicates the end of the header and theinboard face of the king stud. The king studis the full-length stud to which the jack stud isnailed. On the edges of the top and bottomplates, I show the king stud with an X and thejack stud with an O. For double jacks I use OO.After repeating the process on the other side ofthe opening, I measure between the outermostmarks on the top of the doubler to verify theheader length I arrived at earlier by arithmetic.And finally, I write the length of the header onthe doubler.

Window headers are marked out the same wayas for doors. As far as windowsill and bottomcripples are concerned, I usually come back tothem after the walls are up. They aren't neededfor structural reasons, and I'm usually in a bighurry to finish the framing and get the roof on.But if I'm going to sheath the exterior walls be-fore they are tipped into place, I frame below thewindows as I go. In that case I'll write the heightof the window rough opening on the doubler aswell as the width.

I think presheathing pays if you can have theplywood joint even with the bottom of the wall.But some builders, architects and inspectors re-quire that the plywood joints be offset from thefloor elevation to tie the stories together. You canstill presheath in that case by letting the sheetshang over the bottom plate, but I think it be-comes more trouble than it's worth. It's usuallymore economical to let the least skilled mem-bers of the crew hang plywood after the wallshave been raised.

As soon as I've finished determining all theheader sizes, I make a cutlist and give it to a per-son on the crew who can then get busy makingheaders while I finish the layout.

Detailing the doubler—After marking therough openings on the edges of the top platesand the doubler, the focus shifts back to the topface of the doubler. It's time to lay out the struc-ture that will eventually sit on top of the wallyou're about to build. There are very logical rea-sons to do all this layout now. First, by doing itnow, you won't have to spend a lot of time work-ing off a stepladder or walking the plate after thewalls are up, and the doublers are 8 ft. in the air.The work will already be done. Second, it is eas-ier to align the studs in the wall you're currentlybuilding with the loads coming down fromabove. This is called stacking, and I'll discuss itfurther later in the article.

The structure that sits on top of the doublermay be either a floor or a roof. In either case Istart by locating the principle members—girdersin the case of floors, ridges in the case of a roof. Imark their bearing positions on the doublers.Then I measure their actual lengths, cut themembers and set them on the doublers. I cannow lay out the spacing for the joists or the rafterson the principle beams at the same time I putthe corresponding layout on the walls.

To ensure that the principle member is posi-tioned correctly when it's eventually raised, Imake a directional notation on the beam, such

Layout trick. A flexible wind-up tape is usedfor layout. Hold a pencil against the tape andswing it across the plate to make marks. Thefarther the tape is away from the end of theplate, the straighter the lines will be.

Headers and king studs. Tipping the nailed-together doubler and top plate upside down onthe deck makes it easy to toenail the headerand attach the king stud.

Scribing the jacks. By holding a stud along-side the king stud and against the underside ofthe header, the jacks can be scribed withoutmeasuring. Visible on the bottom plate, halfhidden by the carpenter's hand, is a galva-nized plate nailed over joints in the plate.

as north end, or driveway side. With the principlemembers in position, the first joists or rafters I lo-cate are specials, such as stairway trimmers,dormer trimmers and joists under partitions.

When all the specials have been marked, I layout the commons. These are individual, full-length framing members (either joists or rafters inthis case). The standard spacing is 16 in. o. c.,but 12 in. and 24 in. are not uncommon. Youwant to minimize the cutting of your plywood,so the spacing of commons should result in 8 ft.landing in the middle of a framing member.Assuming 16-in. centers, I hook my tape onthe end of the doubler and tick off

, etc. As an alternative, you can tick off thefirst mark at and then measure the remainingmarks from there on exact 16-in. centers.

You can square the tick marks across the dou-bler with a square or use this trick: Clamp yourpencil point against your tape at the given spac-ing by pinching them together between yourthumb and fingers. Swing an arc across the plate(top photo, left), move your pencil to the nextpoint, repeat and so on. The error caused by thecurvature of the line is negligible, and it dimin-ishes as you move outward. This trick works bet-ter with a flexible wind-up tape than with thestiffer, spring-return tape.

By now you're probably wondering if I'm evergoing to start nailing the walls together. Be pa-tient, we're almost ready.

Stacking studs—The spacing for the commonstuds in the walls is derived from the joist or rafterspacing in the structure that sits above. If joist orrafter spacing is the same as the stud spacing,both 16 in. o. c. for example, I simply extend thelayout mark on the top of the doubler downacross the edges of the plates. Aligning theframing members like this is called stacking.But if you have, say, joists on 12-in. centers andstuds on 16-in. centers, every fourth joist shouldstack over every third stud. Stacking whereverpossible helps to prevent deflection of the topplate, although it could be argued that the pres-ence of sheathing and band joists makes suchdeflection unlikely. Stacking does facilitate therunning of plumbing pipes as well as heatingpipes or HVAC ductwork.

And on exterior walls, stacking studs fromone story to the next makes installation of ply-wood sheathing more efficient. To support aspecial joist, such as a double 2x trimmer, Isquare the layout mark on the doubler downacross the edges of the plates and indicate a spe-cial double stud.

Over door-header locations, I extend my pencilmarks for the cripple-stud spacing across theedge of the doubler and the top plate, but I stopshort of the bottom plate. Instead of marking an Xhere, I mark a C on the correct side of the line.This will show the carpenters where to put thecripple studs above the door header. Of coursethis step is unnecessary if the header sits tightagainst the top plate. At window headers I ex-tend the mark across the bottom plate as well,writing C for cripple.

The studs in nonbearing partitions running per-pendicular to the joists should also stack, al-

though it's not as crucial as for bearing walls. (Anonbearing partition is a wall that doesn't sup-port a load.) For partitions running parallel to thejoists, the placement of the common studs is dis-cretionary. They can be laid out from either endof the wall.

Building corners—With the stud layout com-pleted, there are only a few more details thatneed to be mopped up before nailing the wallstogether. At the end of the exterior bywalls I writeCORNER, which means a U-shaped comer unitmade up of two 2x6s and one 2x4. This cornerdesign permits easy access for fiberglass insula-tion (top drawing, right).

Another step in the final layout is to mark outthe studs that go at the end of each butt wallwhere they intersect a bywall. These inside cor-ners provide nailing for drywall and baseboardand, for that matter, any other type of finish trimthat might end in a comer.

Some carpenters preassemble channels toback up these T-shaped intersections. I find it eas-ier to space a pair of studs in the bywall, sepa-rated by the flat width of a block. I add the blocksafter the walls are raised: one in the middle for8-ft. walls, two or more for taller walls. By using2x6 blocks behind 2x4 partitions, and 2x8 blocksbehind 2x6 partitions, I get a 1-in. space on bothsides between the partition and the .bywall studs.This provides access for insulation. It also makesnailing drywall and baseboard easier becauseyou don't have to angle the nail as much to catchthe comerstud (middle drawing, right).

Corner posts for interior 2x4 partitions aremade up of intermittent blocks that are sand-wiched between full-length studs. This type ofcorner can also be used at the end of peninsularwalls (bottom drawing, right). Write B to indicatethe blocking.

The final layout step is to number each wall foridentification and to indicate the raising se-quence. As a convention I write the number onthe left end of the doubler as I look down on it. Ithen write the same number in front of it on thedeck in heavy crayon. These steps help preventthe wall from being installed backwards, whichis easy to do. I put a slash under the 6 and the 9to tell them apart. If there are different studlengths within a story, I write the appropriatelength next to the raising-sequence number thathas been assigned to each wall. It's not a badidea to use a different-colored crayon or markerto indicate different nonstandard stud lengths.For example, if I'm writing everything else out inblack crayon, I use a red crayon to make the ex-ceptions easy to spot.

Nailing the walls together—When the layoutdetailing is complete, the temporary toenails areremoved from the bottom plate only. Each wall isnow represented by a separate package con-taining the bottom plate, the top plate and thedoubler. I stack these packages in an out-of-the-way place on the deck, along with the head-ers, the corner units and the principle beams forthe structure above. Studs should be leanedagainst the edge of the deck where they can bereached, but not stacked OH the deck. The fastest

and most accurate way to mass-produce non-standard studs is with an improvised double-endcutoff arrangement. Nail two chopsaws or slide-saws to a bench at just the right distance apart.Two operators working together lift a stud ontothe beds and cut off both ends. This methodsquares up both ends of the studs and cuts themto length.

When I'm nailing walls together, I usually startwith one of the longer exterior walls. I lay theplate package on the deck, parallel to its desig-nated location and pulled back from the edgeof the deck by a little more than the length ofthe studs. You don't want to crowd yourself. Ipull out the nails that hold the bottom plate tothe top-plate assembly and spread the plates,moving the bottom plate close to the edge ofthe deck. I'm real careful not to turn the plateend for end.

I find the wall's headers and carry them over totheir locations. If the header sits tightly againstthe top plate, I flip the top-plate assembly upsidedown and toenail the header down into the un-derside of the top plate. Then I stand a king studupside down on the plate and through-nail it tothe end of the header with 16d sinkers or 10dcommons. I throw a few toenails through theking stud down into the plate as well (middlephoto, facing page). Now I roll the assemblydown flat on the deck.

Some people precutall their jacks, but I like tomake them as I nail the walls together. It's simpleand fast: I take a common stud and lay it againstthe king stud, one end butted tightly against theheader. Then I strike a line across the bottom endof the king stud onto the jack (bottom photo, fac-ing page) and cut carefully, just removing thepencil line. I nail the jack to the king stud in astaggered pattern, 16 in. o. c. This method of cut-ting jacks in situ compensates for the variationsin header width. The short cutoffs will be used upquickly for blocking.

If the header is offset from the top plate by crip-ple studs, the wall-framing procedure is substan-tially the same, except that it's all done flat onthe deck, toenailing cripples to the top plate andthen to the header (photo p. 46).

Toenailing the studs—Because the top plateand the doubler are nailed together beforehand,the tops of the studs must be toenailed in placerather than through-nailed. Toenailing requiresmore skill than through-nailing; it might take abeginner a little longer to learn, but it's not as ifit's something he won't have to leam eventually.And toenailing is stronger than through-nailingbecause it penetrates across the grain. As thewalls are jockeyed around on the deck andmoved into position to be raised, the bottomplates, which are through-nailed, loosen easilywhile the toenailed tops hold firm.

If you'd rather not toenail, or if you're using airnailers, which make toenailing difficult, you cantack the doubler to the top plate temporarily forlayout purposes. Then pull the doubler off tothrough-nail the tops of the studs. And finally,nail the doubler back in place using an indexmark to ascertain its correct position. Toenailingis the method I was taught years ago, and it's

Nailing the walls together. After all the layout and cutting is finished,the wall components are nailed together. The author nails the doublerto the top plate before the wall is assembled. This then requires that the

tops of the studs be toenailed to the plate, instead of through-nailed as inother methods. The pull-out strength of a toenail is greater than that of athrough-nail into end grain.

what I'm most comfortable with, so that's themethod I'll describe.

When the headers and their jacks and kingstuds have been nailed in place, I stock the wallwith common studs. One end of each stud restson the top-plate assembly so that it won't bouncearound when I start my toenails. I start at one endof the wall, lift up a stud, quickly eyeball it andlay it back down with the crown pointing to theleft (because I'm right handed). I work my waydown the length of the wall until I reach the end(photo right). For 2x6 walls I use 10d commonsor 16d sinkers for toenailing. For 2x4 walls I use8d commons or 10d sinkers. Starting at one end, Istart my toenails in the upturned face of eachstud—three nails for 2x6, two nails for 2x4. Ideally,the point of the nail should just peek through thebottom of the stud. I work my way down the row.

Bracing the top plate with my feet, I grab thefirst stud in my left hand. As I shove it away, I turnit 90° to the right so that it lies on edge, then Ipull it back up firmly against the plate. Becausethe crown now faces up, the stud won't rockon the deck. One blow sets the nail, and two orthree more drive it home (photo facing page).The stud will drift as it's toenailed, dependingon the accuracy of the cut, the accuracy of thehammer blow and the hardness of the wood.Even if you are just a beginning carpenter, you'llquickly learn how far off the mark to start asa way of compensating for the force of yourhammer blows.

Some carpenters drive a toenail in the -in.edge of the stud to hold it in place, but I'vealways thought this was a superfluous practicethat can be dispensed with. When I reach theend of the wall, I double back, firing nails intothe other side of the stud—two nails for a 2x6stud, one nail for 2x4, staggered with those onthe other side.

When the studs, the jacks and the cripples aretoenailed to the top plate, it's time to nail the bot-tom plate. The bottom plate gets through-nailedto the stud with 16d sinkers—three to a 2x6, two toa 2x4 (photo below right).

Raising the walls—There are two schools ofthought regarding the sequence in which the var-ious walls should be raised. If space on the deckis tight, the long walls must be framed and raisedbefore the other walls have been inflated withstuds. Otherwise there won't be enough room.But if I have some room to spare, I'll start withthe littlest walls.

I frame the walls and start piling them up.When the pile is finished, the little walls will beon the bottom, and the medium-length walls willbe on top. Finally I frame and raise the long, ex-terior walls. Instead of bracing the long walls witha lot of diagonal 2x4s attached to scab blocks, Ican pull an adjoining medium-length partitionoff the pile and drop it into place. This immedi-ately buttresses the long wall. As I work fromthe perimeter of the house toward the inside, thepile diminishes, and the walls pop up quickerthan dandelions.

It may go without saying, but when raisingwalls, especially long, heavy 2x6 walls, it is im-portant to lift using the power in your legs rather

Crowning and toenailing. Sighting down each stud determines its crown. All the studs are thenlaid on the top plates with the crowns facing the same direction. The toenails are then started in allthe studs and nailed all at once, production-line style.

than the smaller muscles in your back. After awall has been lifted into a vertical position, I askone man on the crew to line up the bottom plateto the chalkline on the deck while the othershold the wall steady.

The wall can usually be moved to the line bybanging on it with a sledgehammer. I nail thebottom plate into the floor framing, one nail perbay. A bay is the space between studs.

All that remains is to rack the walls plumb andbrace them (see FHB #23, pp. 68-71). The onlybraces sticking out into the room should bethose necessary to straighten any long, uninter-rupted walls that are crooked. The rest of thewalls will have been braced by each other. Withthe next phase of the job already laid out, you'reready to rock and roll.

Scott McBride is a contributing editor of FineHomebuilding. Photos by Charles Miller.

Through-nailing. As in other methods offraming, the author prescribes through-nailingthe bottom of the studs, the jacks and the crip-ples. As he works his way down the plate, healigns each component to its mark and nails it.