Sheathing Walls On The Ground Or Standing?

roscoe8423

The way I learned how to frame, we sheathed and tyveked walls on the ground after we square them. It seems pretty obvious to me that this is the easiest way to sheath or tyvek. But I see people standing walls all of the time without sheathing or tyveking...Why would you do that? I know that some of you guys do it like that. Whats the point?

1mancrew

I always sheet the walls after squaring then stand. Tyvek after their up.

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wallmaxx

When I learned in Houston, in 1989, we totally stick framed the entire framing structure to include the roof. As we were framing the walls we would build in 1x4 let-in bracing in the corners of the walls. We sheathed the whole thing a half day just prior to starting the cornice. (not CornISH - its not a bird you eat) cornice...rhymes with more kiss

I think because we were building on slab foundations, it was the best way to ensure that the walls were plumb, more than perfectly square...to compensate for "humpy" or "dippy" concrete.

I have done it both ways. I don't really have a preference. Up here in WA most everyone does it the way you mentioned.

skyhook

Always standing, after plumb and line. Stagger sheets.

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Chris Johnson

Prefer to sheet first, tyvek after standing since we have Diaphragm nailing inspections on shearwalls.

I see most guys stand then sheet, that can be a bitch on 2 storeys, why scaffold if you don't have too.

The other I notice is the young guys all use a single kicker to hold the walls (and they wonder why the walls still move), I did a spring brace one day and the look I got was I made some foreign object.

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wallmaxx

Regional terminology.
Please define.

Where I'm from a "single kicker" is an unmarried red-neck country boy.

Are you referring to temporary bracing? I am only guessing with the reference to the spring loaded bracing to "pull" a bowed-out wall in.

Chris Johnson

I call a single kicker a single 2x nailed off to a stud and to the floor with the opportunity to move, bounce, let go, etc.

or

I can see the unmarried red-neck country boy

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Chris

genecarp

Stand/then sheath

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precisionbuild

Sheathe and Tyvek, then stand.

Burby

I always do as much as possible on the deck, use to even install the windows & siding on the deck then stand, rafters as well on the deck, especially when I had my lull for lifting the walls. Now because of nailing inspections, moisture barrier goes on after.
The first time I braced up all my first floor walls here in SC, after plumbing the outside corners, with spring boards every 8 to 10 ft all the guys I had hired from here, were scrathing their heads. I gave them this time to sit, watch, & learn. Once completed the questions began, but once they got to look around, beat on some walls, throw their levels on any interior wall, they soon learnt how good this worked out.
Especially once we got all the 2nd floor joist up and lower walls still perfect on my line, nothing moved or could move during the work. 2nd floor is decked in, send a laborer or helper down to remove them & have ready for the 2nd story walls.
Then all levels except one put back in the trucks and not to come out again, One frame, one level. 10 levels, 10 people reading them, 10 errors. The lead man had the level & only for exterior corners and or what ever he needed to check. This way if something is wrong you know who to look at.
All plates tacked together then laid out, no need to level interior walls then. Get the guys to build on the marks, once exterior walls are plumbed & strung, all will be perfect.

I guess it is all about how one learns, your tolerances allowed for error, as well as the end result one wishes to see.
As long as end result is as expected, that is what counts..

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K2

I liked stand and sheath with the plywood run horizontally staggered and layed out so the verticle breaks are not on the plate lines. But that's not the way I did it most of my life. Either way is just as fast for me and the house will be there a thousand years regardless... I usually did it the way the crew knew it best and here in the west it was generally laying down.

A W Smith

stand then sheath. Sheathing is a subcontract after framing in this region. Framers get per sq foot in my area or lump sum, Sheather's get paid by the sheet. and not very much. I was always taught to frame then sheath. a tradition going back to the sixties when i was a kid and watched the suburbs blossom. I'm too old to be lifting fully sheathed walls. and sometimes the lousy foundations aren't even level. if you sheath then stand your screwed. I found this out on the very first house i helped frame with a contractor. I was leveling soffit nailer's on the wall (yeah i know) with a four foot level to find out the wall was lower 3 inches in one corner of the house to the other. Another time i was building a house with a childhood friend who used to buy individual lots and build a house a year. another builder bought a lot next door to him. I saw the framers show up one day get out a transit and then go home by 10 am after scratching their heads. The foundation sat for another week when the mason comes back and forms the top of the foundation and pours a bond beam which appeared to correct (from my vantage point) about a 6 to 8 inch out of level.

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shanekw1

The walls on a PWF basement I was helping frame once were built with 2x6 pwf studs on 1 foot centers and sheathed with 1" pwf plywood. Damnnear needed a new pair of shorts after standing a few of those puppies.

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dlcj

Frame, square, sheath, house wrap (leaving slack to overlap corners and joints), stand, brace and level every 8 feet. We sheath vertical and when walls are over 8' we let first sheet hang down 1' to cover rim joist and next sheet cover top plate and fill in with 2' pieces (on 9' walls). Only 2 of us sometimes 3 so we only build 12-16' long walls that we can lift. For 12-14' tall walls like for garage when house in on crawl space and 9' ceilings, we go ahead and build the whole wall (one good reason to have the garage slabs done first even on crawl space houses) usually 24-28' long and 12' tall and lift it with our boom truck. We stand, level and brace all interior walls. Then pull a string along the top plate of all exterior walls and pull push them straight and rebrace them. Then cut let in braces on the longest interior walls that join an exterior wall. All temp braces stay on till roof is sheathed.

odellconstruct

prefrence .. doesnt really matter as long as you do it to your codes your golden

K2

As long as you do it and make money at it your platinum

roscoe8423

dlcj has the idea. except who cares if the walls are bigger than 16 feet. If you have a gradeall then all you have to do is choke the middle of the wall and have 2 people stabilize the ends and lift that bitc h with the lift. The machine does all the work. Ive done it with 60 feet walls. And I disagree with anybody who says that sheathing walls standing is as easy as sheathing walls on the floor. I dont even feel that it is negotiable. How is it as easy to lift sheet after sheet and keep it stable while you reach for your stapler and staple a corner, then get the sheet right and staple it off on a ladder, compared to just standing on solid ground and stapling your sheet off nice and easy without any hassle whatsoever?

K2

There's a couple hundred tricks to make it easy and faster. But, if you havn't learned it that way from guys who do it that way then it is more difficult.

Timuhler

We have shear nailing inspections here, we sheathe vertically so we don't have to block the panel edges. It is a lot easier to nail quickly and properly when the walls are flat. We mostly use 9 and 10' sheathing to get bast the bottom plates.

But on garage walls, we sheathe after they are up.

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buletbob

Frame stand and then sheath, Been doing it that way for 40yrs, But the other way looks more comfortable to frame, No ladders or staging, But cant teach an old dog new tricks when it comes to Time and price.BOB

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