|
|
 |
|
|
Small House Construction
1- Set sills on foundation piers and level them, making sure pencil marks are facing up and aligned with marks on other sill. The end of the building with the porch has three joists very close together about 4' from the end. Check diagonals - sills should be at least 8' apart on center.
2- Lay joists on pencil marks...placing a "double" joist about 6" from each end wall. Overhang should be less than 2' from edge of sill. Hang 16' headers with a nail at each end into the end-grain of the outer joists. Nail each joist to the header with 4-5 nails (20d ring nails 3.5" long). You may have to shim some of the joists on the sill to get them up to the plane of the subfloor.
3- Toe-nail each joist to the sill with a total of 4 nails into each joist (1 on each side on each sill). Pre-drill the angled toe-nail holes to make this easier.
4- Lay subfloor (see layout below). Start with two full sheets along the 16' edge opposite the porch. Next combine 4'x4', 4'x8', and 3'x4' pieces to make 16' total in the middle of the floor. The final row is a 4'x8' and 4'x4' 1-1/2", leaving the porch open. The subfloor takes a lot of nails or screws to ensure solid, squeak free surface, typically 7-8 fasteners per 4' section of joist.
5 - Check diagonals again - square up the frame prior to laying any flooring. Use hand winch or come along to pull longer corners together if necessary.
6 - Identify each panel and its position in the building. Each panel has only one place it can go. Framing and siding details guarantee that each panel is unique. Start with two panels in a corner first. Push them together and screw the studs together inside at top and bottom of stud, checking outside to ensure the siding is fitting together properly. Use screws outside to pull the corner panels togehter tightly if necessary. Work along one wall to another corner. The corners are important to stabilize the walls. Oversize clamps are very useful for drawing the framing members of neighboring panels together prior to attaching with screws. Eventually you will want to have 3 screws at top, middle and bottom of each pair of studs.
7- Upon completion of the 16' walls, you can drop in the second floor joists. One of the beams is a sill that sits over the double casements. Install this first and screw through the siding from the outside to hold it in place - make sure the nice side is the visible side. Use toe-nail screws, and/or hand winch to draw the joinery tight. Finally, predrill and drive big red screws down through the tops of the joints in the sill over the window. Also, make sure to fasten the joists to the framing on the opposite side, using at least 4 screws at each joint through the face grain.
8 - Check diagonals on second floor. Square up the frame using hand winch or come along. Install 2"x4"x8' plates along the tops of each long wall - 2 screws every 2'.
9- Install 2nd floor T&G decking. Loft decking has been cut - there are three different lengths. The two short lengths will pair up to match the longer length sets.
10- Install roof panels. These go up in pairs. We have used a rope to pull these from above while two people below lift and guide the panels up into place. Use screws to tweak and connect panels to the top plates and to eachother. These toe nails will hold the panels in place, but afterwards you will drive big reds in perpendicular to the roof deck into the top plates. This will call for careful measurement from the bottom of the roof panels to the bird's mouth. Standing on a ladder, you will measure up from the bottom of the panel, drill a straight hole through the center of each rafter and then drive the big reds.
11. Install metal roofing. Predrill on 2' centers, with a double row 6" apart at the eave. Check for overhang - should be about 3/4" metal overhang on each gable end. It is not a big deal if the roofing has unequal overhangs on the two gable ends, except to the obsessive/compulsive types (e.g. me)! The rake edge trim will provide very forgiving cover.
12. check positioning of wall panels relative to the first floor deck. Tap them around and gently coerce into place, straight against the headers and joists. Check square, plumb of door opening. Install door. Nail through siding into joists and header all the way around the building, two nails through each board.
13. Install porch decking material. Start on outside edge and work to wall - rip last board to fit. Gap is typically 1/4" to 1/2".
14. Set ladder outside on gable end of structure and nail siding into rafters from eave to peak. Check siding everywhere all around the building and add nails where boards nailed to one panel overlap its neighbor.
15. Trim and finish as desired. Typically, we add short siding skirt boards around the porch and we also trim out a siding skirt above the porch as well. The gable ends and the eaves were meant to be trimmed out separately to complete the enclosure.
|
|
|
|
|
