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Discussion Forum

Lifting a framed wall alone

Talma | Posted in General Discussion on October 15, 2007 10:57am

I am working on my addition, and had some bad weather this weekend. leaving me two small walls to finish and lift into place. The only problem is I won’t have any help until this weekend.

I figure it would only take an hour or so to get the walls up with help, but that’s time I would rather spend putting up trusses and roof sheathing.

one wall is 10′ the other 9′ so I can lift the walls myself, but how do I get them positioned, lined up, and nailed down, without a gust of wind knocking it over.

Thanks, -Tim

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  1. marv | Oct 15, 2007 11:21pm | #1

    Proctor wall jacks.

    You get out of life what you put into it......minus taxes.

    Marv

  2. Blojoker | Oct 15, 2007 11:27pm | #2

    "Proctor Wall Jacks"

    -seconded.

    should be able to rent from local building supply.

    OR - if you do not have access to wall jacks, a couple 2x4's nailed securely and flush on the outside of your wall in the vertical position will allow you to keep it from blowing over and give you enough time to line up the ends and nail it in.

     

    Blojoker
    Middle of nowhere
    "I get paid by the hour, I can do it again"

  3. alwaysoverbudget | Oct 16, 2007 12:14am | #3

    i prefer the idea of nailing support from the outside and lean the wall up.even if  you can span between the two existing walls with a crosswise 2x. if not you can nail a 2x4 at the top of the wall and let it hang down like a leg making sure its a little short so the wall stays leaning in slightly,  then readjust ,stand it and nail it.larry

    why pay someone to screw it up,i can do it for free....

  4. Jim_Allen | Oct 16, 2007 12:55am | #4

    First, don't raise them if it's windy.

    Second: build your brace onto the wall first. Essentially, you have to figure out how long the brace will be on the outside and prop it somehow onto the wall, so when you stand the wall up plumb, the brace bumps the ground locking the wall into it's upright position.

    Third: Prior to commencing the raising, you should prop the wall up a few inches and push your inside brace all the way to the bottom plate. Place it in the middle  so when you finally hear the wall go thump against  the  outside brace, you can bend down and grab the stud laying on the ground next to your feet. If the brace is the correct size, you can jam it up against the top plates and the wall will be locked in from going out or in.

    Fourth, Quickly put semi permanent braces on each end.

    Fifth: Lock the ends in to the other walls.

    Assumptions: the sheathing will be installed.

    My opinion: you won't need proctors for something this small. Tall wall and heavier studs could easily change my opinion.

    jim

    Ps This would be a piece of cake for most experienced framers, but rookies beware....a lot of bad things can happen quickly. Know your escape routes before you start your lift. 

    fka (formerly known as) blue

    1. Jer | Oct 16, 2007 02:00pm | #13

      Have you ever just nailed (or bolted) cleats onto the outside of the adjoining walls top & middle so they stick out and catch the new wall? Then you can have your inside 2x4 ready to throw up as the center brace.Never done it that way but I work alone most of the time and it just occurred to me as I was reading your post. My carpentry is not any kind of major framing but I have many years of figuring how to rig things alone.

      1. Jim_Allen | Oct 16, 2007 04:48pm | #17

        Jer, the quick answer is yes. The longer answer is that I'm not a big fan of "cleats" because they tend to pose one of two problems: if you put enough nails in them so they stay put, they are too hard to remove. If you fasten them so they remove easily, they are too risky to do the job.

        So, I prefer to use longer "cleats" than most guys in the field. In your case my cleats would be 8' studs nailed somewhere to achieve your goals, which I'm not entirely sure of at this point in the conversation. It is rare that you would find me using cleats less than 4' for any type of substantial bracing. Catching a 10' wall falls into "not too daunting" category. If that wall is 16' tall, fully sheathed with the overhangs attached,  then that's another story!

        If you've rigged enough stuff to do things alone, I'm sure you will be able to calculate all the things that could go wrong. If I was forced to raise a ten foot wall, 8' high myself, and my back could do it, I'd spend only about one minute prepping to catch it. It's really not that big of a deal, even if the wall is sheathed, hardi sided and overhanged with a window already set in it. That would  be too heavy for my weak back but I know hundreds of guys that would toss that up as easily as they'd toss a salad.

        jimfka (formerly known as) blue

    2. Talma | Oct 16, 2007 03:25pm | #16

      Thanks for all the advice. Since the 10' wall is a continuation of an exsisting wall I will be able to put up an ouside brace to catch the wall on the one end of the outside. I can also cut a stud to catch the inside.

      This is for a garage/workshop, so the floor is poured concrete so I can't nail anything to it. Mostly because there is radient floor tubing in the slab.

      I put myself through college working on a framing crew, and we always had wall jacks, but usually there were 10 people or so around when it came time to lift a wall. So I never had to lift one by myself.

      Since this is ground floor I'm not to worried if the wall goes over, I can pick it up from the other side.

      I also have no problem moving and letting it go. I know it will take longer to finish from a hospital bed, than if I have to rebuild the whole section.

      1. Jim_Allen | Oct 16, 2007 04:54pm | #18

        It sounds like you have this under control Talma.

        Continuations of existing walls can pose slight problems if you sheath your new wall while laying down if everything about the existing wall isn't plumb. If the existing wall is out of plumb and leaning toward the new wall going up, the plates will not slide together easily and if a rookie is trying to stand it up alone, he often will be stumped as to how to get it done.

        If both walls are perfectly plumb, you may still need some slight shoehorning action, but nothing serious. Just be mentally prepared to temp brace in order to use your shoehorning techniques, whatever they are.

        jimfka (formerly known as) blue

  5. Jim_Allen | Oct 16, 2007 12:58am | #5

    Another option:

    Fasten a heavy section of rope, with the appropriate length on each end of the wall. The rope should be long enough to get the wall plumb without allowing it to lean out.

    Have an interior brace handy by your feet. Note: by your feet means where your feet are when the wall is in the standing position. That brace won't do you any good if you have to look back 8' to see it....unless you want to do the  8 yard  dash and hope you can get back to the wall before it starts its downward assent to crush you.

    jim

    Ps The "dont do this in a wind" still applies. 

    fka (formerly known as) blue

    1. frenchy | Oct 16, 2007 01:06am | #6

      Blue,

        send him your telehandler ;-)

      1. Jim_Allen | Oct 16, 2007 02:15am | #7

        Geezuz Frenchy...we had to dump that more than a year ago. It sat in a field doing nothing month after month while we paid the note. Luckily we had a boom truck paid for.

        jimfka (formerly known as) blue

  6. Framer | Oct 16, 2007 02:42am | #8

    Do yourself a favor and don't rent any jacks and waste your money. You've never used jacks before and by the time you figure it out you can have the walls done.You have a 10' and a 9' wall, so nail a stud at each end and nail the top plates on both walls and nail your shoe/sole plate in and then just fill in the studs and toenail them and your done. You don't have to worry about any wind or lifting anything heavy. All you have to lift is one stud at a time.

    Joe Carola
    1. bruce22 | Oct 16, 2007 04:25am | #9

      The best advice yet  If  you can't get any help, keep it simple and don't get hurt.

      1. Framer | Oct 16, 2007 03:23pm | #14

        By the time he rigs up anything or goes down to the local rental place and rent jacks, the wall can be framed already. He already has one wall up that he can nail one side of the two top plates on for each wall, so all he has to do is nail another stud up against the house and set the top plates on and nail them. Now all he has to do is nail each stud off and he's done.Joe Carola

    2. bobbys | Oct 16, 2007 08:43am | #12

      thats what i would do

      1. Framer | Oct 16, 2007 03:24pm | #15

        The walls are so small, he'll be done in no time and no lifting or worrying about wind or bracing.Joe Carola

  7. canoehead2 | Oct 16, 2007 04:47am | #10

    Same thing happened to me last week.  I raised two 12' x6 walls myself.  I waited for a non-windy day, made sure to have hinges in the bottom plate to prevent wall from kicking in or out (two strips of pipe strap under bottom plate).  I had 3 2x6's cut at increasing lengths to prop up the wall during the critical first 45 degress so that I could take breaks.

    Premeasured and nailed brace to end of wall.

    Wouldn't want to do it again though.



    Edited 10/15/2007 9:47 pm ET by canoehead2

    1. junkhound | Oct 16, 2007 05:35am | #11

      Rope or use the top plate stop as already mentioned by others. Hinged 2x4s also work, hinges just being 3ea 16d commons.

      Put up a bunch of 15 ft by 8 ft walls by myself like either of those methods when in my 20's; 40+ years ago (probably could hardly get them off the ground now), never had any problem. Did install the windows after walls were up.

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