New saw – new construction updates!

Today we will be sheeting the constructed floor frame.

Tools required: good circular saw (or a big-ass table saw if you run a woodworking shop), framing nailer, adhesive gun, tape measure (optional).

Materials: OSB T&G (Oriented Strand Board, Tongue & Groove), construction adhesive, collated nails.

This is a pretty simple step if your frame is level and square – that is, of course, if you didn’t spare any effort on your foundation. If it’s not – lord have mercy on your poor soul. We will be using 3/4” 4×8 sheets of OSB with a tongue-and-groove system. These sheets click into each other and form a tightly jointed floor.

Tongue on one end, groove on the other. What a concept!

Begin by placing the first sheet at the corner, tongue sticking off the side, and measure that everything lines up. If it does – take the sheet off, run a bead of adhesive along the joists, and place the sheet back over. Now take the framing nailer and nail the first sheet to the joists.

First sheet lined up perfectly

Now repeat with the second sheet. My shed is 12×16 which translated into exactly 2 sheets lengthwise and 3 wide. However, for the second row, we need to offset the sheets like a jigsaw puzzle to strengthen the floor. The offset will be 4 feet, so I am going to rip one sheet in the middle and do 4, 8, 4 on the second row. This is where my troubles started.

I had an old Ryobi circular saw which I bought many years ago, when I still believed that “home improvement” level tools were worth anything. When it comes to power tools, nothing could be further from the truth: they sway you with extra bells and whistles that the pro tools may not necessarily have, but the tradeoff is crappy quality and absolute lack of precision or power. What good is a laser guide if it’s not aligned with the base? And the base itself is so flimsy, it twists under load. Sure, every saw will have a lockout button and a hex nut to change the blades, but on Ryobi it is painfully inconvenient to do so (along with every other adjustment) – because an average homeowner never changes the blades, bevel angle or depth of cut.

I absolutely dreaded making long cuts with the circular saw, because I simply could not keep them straight. No matter what guides I used, and how hard I leaned into the saw, that Ryobi would travel away from the guide, vibrate and buckle, and the resulting wavy cut was anything but straight. I gave up and resigned to accept that circular saw is simply not my tool, and I won’t get any better. I never thought about getting another saw, because this one had everything in it: laser guide, adjustable blade height, bevel angle. Perfectly good saw, right?

Poor Ryobi met its match. OSB: 1 – Ryobi: 0

Well, today was the last day for it. It got in roughly one foot into the OSB board, bogged down, shot some smoke out of the motor and tripped a circuit breaker. It was time for a new tool, so I bought a professional 15 amp Makita. Oh, boy, what a world of difference! I lined up Makita on the guide, and went ripping. It powered through OSB like butter – perfectly straight cut, blade spinning effortlessly. No bucking, no travel, an ideal cut right off the bat. I was floored. So much energy and frustration wasted with the old crappy saw! Never again.

Well, today was the last day for it. It got in roughly one foot into the OSB board, bogged down, shot some smoke out of the motor and tripped a circuit breaker. It was time for a new tool, so I bought a professional 15 amp Makita. Oh, boy, what a world of difference! I lined up Makita on the guide, and went ripping. It powered through OSB like butter – perfectly straight cut, blade spinning effortlessly. No bucking, no travel, an ideal cut right off the bat. I was floored. So much energy and frustration wasted with the old crappy saw! Never again.

Two thirds of the way there.

Finally, when everything is covered, it is time to cut off the overhanging tongue on the first row of sheeting. Set up a guide on the saw for the width of the tongue and simply run the saw along the edge. Done!

Guide set, ready to rip.

Now you floor is ready. Next step – making rafters. Why rafters before the walls? Because you need clear floor surface to line up the rafters and verify exact match in width. By the time you stand up the walls, you don’t have clear space to work in.

Floor is complete.