What time is it? It’s evening shed story time!
All right, today we can do floor framing. If you spent the effort to level your foundation to near perfect, this part is super easy. If you didn’t – you are gonna have a baaad time.
Tools needed: circular saw or miter saw (optional), work stands, framing nailer, tape measure, carpenter triangle.
Supplies needed: lumber, collated nails.
Start by cutting your rim joists to size. Set them together, and start marking where your lateral joists will be attached. This is where the cool part is: no tape measure needed. A carpenter triangle is exactly a foot on one side, so if your joists are 1’4” apart, simply slide the triangle along the rim joist, mark a foot, slide four inches more, make the mark on both rim joists and set an X where your lateral joists will be attached. Keep running along the board like that. Very precise, perfect right angle every time – and a ton of time saved.
Mark your future joist attachment on the broad side, then flip the triangle and transfer your location precisely onto another joist.
Back when I just moved to US and tried to construct something for the first time, I started converting everything into metric, got super-confused and hated every minute of it. Since then I learned to live in imperial system. It does not really matter what you work in, if everything fits the imperial units rule. A 2×4 board is really 1.5” wide, not 2. But when you consider the board thickness on both sides of your box, you get 3 inches total. Subtract them from your width – 12 feet in this case, and you get the length of the lateral joist: 11 feet and 9 inches. You would think that now you have to convert everything to inches and measure it out on tape. Not really. The tape is already marked specifically for that. It has feet on it, and inches starting from the nearest foot mark. So you extended your tape to 11 feet and 9 inches and never once invoke any math beyond addition/subtraction around 12.
Carpenter triangle – your invaluable tool for everything from rafter measurements to keeping circular saw straight.
Now start cutting your lateral joists. If you have a steady hand, use circular saw and carpenter triangle to keep it straight. If you are a baller, get a miter saw with extendable work stand and get your precise cuts this way.
Setting up the box
Attach both ends, and then start putting your lateral joists in the middle (don’t forget to crown up). Then – go to town with the framing nailer. Attach lateral joists to rim joists, make sure everything is square and then nail it down to the foundation.
This gun is too small 🙁
Now that’s what I’m talking about!
Frame ready!
