I have this wall on the ground. You know, 2x4s and OSB nailed together. And I need to figure out how to raise it up and set it on top of a 4" curb on the anchor bolts without resorting to using a crane. The thing is 26’ long and weighs a lot.
I have about 5 people to help with it. I was thinking about building a ramp and dragging the bottom plate up it so that the anchor holes are lined up with the anchors and then tipping it upright. Hopefully everything would line up. But what would I do if it doesn’t?
I hope somebody around here has done this type of thing before and can give me some suggestions since I have absolutely no clue what I’m doing.
Also, I am going to preemptively ask how you are supposed to raise the roof. No really. How do you get huge trusses on top of the structure without a sky hook?
I’ve done it once, minus the complications of the curb and anchor bolts (as far as I can recall). It was … heavy. As I recall, we’d lift or jack up one end a few feet, stick a 2x4 under it and nail it in place. Then move down the wall, lifting each section to that height. Then repeat. It got tricky at the 45 degree point when leverage was no longer enough and we had to lever on 2x4’s at 90 degrees to the wall.
Our wall was just the frame, though, no OSB. That usually comes after the frame is up, although we probably had some braces to stop the frame from racking.
You want to make very, very sure that your wall doesn’t fall off the edge of the foundation while you’re trying to get it vertical.
5 people for a 26 foot wall does not seem too bad. Do you have a lot of headers in it.
Anyway, I would schootch/lift It on top of the curb, then when you tilt it the bolts should line up with your pre-drilled holes. If they don’t, you a mini-sledge to make adjustments.
If you have a weaker one in your party, You might assign them to slide some saw-horses under it as it goes up.
As an allturnative, loosely nail some 2x4s to it so that they swing down and become supporting legs as you pick the wall up.
enipla, there are not a lot of headers in it, just one window. This is a garage I am building. So it is not as heavy as it could be. However, I am going with Finagle’s plan of not putting all the OSB on the rest of the walls to make them a little lighter. I wound up just putting two pieces of OSB on the other wall I have built to hold it square and hold the joints in the bottom and top plates together.
Well, one thing is for sure… this will be an adventure and a good learning experience.
Often, instead of the sheeting, (your OSB) a couple of temporary diagonal braces will be installed to keep things square untill sheeted. Not only is it lighter, but it is handy to be able to stand between the studs while lifting and/or pushing. Much easier to lift from waist level, or push from shoulder level, than from over your head…this also puts you in a somewhat safer spot if it gets away from you.
Also, when you raise the wall, be sure to attach “catch” ropes to stakes that will keep it from going much beyond upright. A bit of trig will get you close enough to the correct length.
[QUOTE=StinkyBurrito]
Thanks for your help everyone.
enipla, there are not a lot of headers in it, just one window.QUOTE]My brother and I lifted/set a 22 foot wall with three 6 foot headers in it. I doubt you will have much of a problem.
Kevbo, that is some very good advice. I will certainly be using it for the other two walls not yet built. And I will use the ropes. That sounds prudent.
And enipla, that makes me feel much better. I have been having some anxiety about this whole project (seeing as how I really don’t know what I’m doing).
And may I suggest adding an extra foot or so to your measurement. I’d really hate to heave the wall up to find out that the ropes are 6 inches to short.
I tried to add 12 ft to an existing garage and ended up rebuilding the whole thing so I have some suggestions on your project. a 26’ wall will need bracing the entire length to keep it perpendicular. It’s very important that everything remains relatively square. Braces are usually nothing but a toenailed 2x4 attached to the top and then nailed to a stake once the wall is leveled.
Once the walls were up I found that the long wall needed to be nudged back in place so I built a wall jack out of scrap wood and an old car jack. If you need to do this you could buy a basement floor jack to do the same thing.
Putting trusses up was a unique experience. When I put the walls up I ran the top header board out past the wall on the peak side of the garage. I did this for 2 reasons. 1) it makes a sturdier overhang and 2) it allowed me to place the trusses by myself. By having an overhanging 2x4 I was able to hook one end of a truss on it using a ladder and then repeating the procedure on the other side. Once the truss was hanging (upside down) on the overhangs I put the ladder in the middle and raised the peak up high enough to slide it on. When the peak of the truss reached the wall I simply pushed it over and let it sit swing inverted. After 3 of of the trusses were positioned this way I moved them 4 ft away from the wall (4 feet allows for the space of 3 trusses spaced 24" apart on-center. and then spaced them far enough apart to nail sheeting on them to create a temporary floor. I also toenailed them to the existing walls. This creates a platform to work on.
The next truss to go up is set 48" on center from the outside of the wall and is then braced diagonally to the temporary floor that was just created. You can also brace them diagonally to the wall if you start on the back wall (garage door side won’t work). After that you can put up the next truss and brace it diagonally to the truss you just put up. You can now put up the end truss repeating the procedures above. This gives you 3 trusses in a row, 24" on center. If you brace all 3 of them together diagonally they will stand on their own. You now have a stable set of trusses to work with.
One of the problems with getting trusses lined up is the straightness of the walls they sit on. No matter what you do they won’t be perfectly straight so you’ll need a guide for the trusses. If the trusses aren’t lined up perfectly then the roof will look wavy and so will the overhang. to make an easy guide I suggest you run a a stringer down the length of the wall that aligns the ends of the trusses. The line should extend out from the wall and be just underneath the truss. Make sure to measure them against each other so you have the same length between the lines. You might have to brace the wood holding the line so you can keep it taut. Remember, you’re trying to keep the trusses aligned to THEMSELVES and not the wall.
Tools. One of the handiest tool is a 24" on-center spacing tool. You can buy one or build one. To build one take a 30" piece of scrap 2x6 and cut notches in them 24" on-center. the space between the notches should be 24" minus the thickness of the truss. You can look at a store-bought tool if you don’t understand what I’m talking about. I would use a 2X6 vs a 2X4 because it’s easy to snap these apart from the movement of the truss. I also used a clamp in conjunction with the spacing tool once I got the truss the way I wanted it.