It was a clear day without wind as we started turning wall panels into walls; securing them to the foundations, sheathing them and top plating.
In the photo to the right, two stacks are the exterior and interior walls for one house.
Below is a foundation waiting for walls.
Above is the house I worked on today. There was a team drilling through the bottom plate into the concrete and then firing bolts down into the concrete. The sheathing is installed on the outside. Fortunately we were able to use nail guns which makes the nailing go much faster but you have to make sure no one is working inside near where you are using the gun which gets increasingly challenging as more sheath goes up. The sheath is nailed to each stud and at the top and bottom every 6 or 12 inches. Nails are placed every 65 inches around windows and doors. There is caulk placed at the top and bottom. It goes pretty quickly once you get the rhythm down. I was supervising a team of sheathers.
The top plating involves placing an additional 2×6 (for exterior and 24 for Interior) board to anchor the walls to each other and the interior to the exterior. There is a lot of measuring and cutting for this step. We did not have enough nail guns for all of the work so the top plates were done with hammering.
You can see the top plating in this photo with Jean, the SOS who has been my main mentor on this journey.
Below shows the area we worked at the end of the day. 4 houses have walls. One is fully sheathed and top plated and ready for trusses for the roof. Supposedly, the volunteers will be building 13 houses to completion by the end of June.
I can’t wait to see how this all progresses
Tamara Unleashed 