Raising a 40' wall

[notrightnow]

I will be starting my shop build shortly. I will mostly be on my own but will definately be getting help to raise the walls.

Since I will be on my own, my plan so far was to build all 4 walls on the 30x40 cement pad. Two walls, one 30' and one 40', have no windows/doors so I will build those first. I will then build the last two wall on top of the first.

The goal is to get all 4 walls complete and have then ready to be raised in one session.

Would it but be unreasonable to attempt to raise a 40' wall that is 2x6 construction 9' tall and fully sheathed?

I was thinking 10 guys would be enough. Say 7 or 8 to lift and the rest to add the supports.

Any thoughts?

Thanks

 

[ryno]

with the sheeting i think it may be a little much.
if your getting trusses, why dont you just have the crane stand up your walls also?
be sure to predrill your bottom plate first.

 

[rakesdl]

Yea, that is going to be pretty heavy. When I did mine I built them in 12 foot sections, with the sheeting on the outside. Even then it was all that four people wanted to handle.

 

[rsanter]

I vote for the crane

bob

 

[walrus]

I'm building mine in sections, no sheathing just strapping, too heavy

 

[notrightnow]

Thanks everyone, guess I have a change of plans.

 

[sammerdog]

Time out. That's not too far over the top. 40' divided by 8 guys is 5' of wall per man. Standing approx 3 or 4 2x6's and a little over one sheet of cdx on end per guy isn't that hard. ...and you'llactually have all 10 guys for the hardest part - getting the wall the first 2/3rds of the way up.

I've been on crews of 3 and put up 24' side walls (admittedly 2x4 construction). Heavy? Yeah, but there's times when you gotta do what you gotta do.

Like the poster above advised, have your bottom sill pre-drilled and/or a sturdy "kickplate" mounted even with the edge of the foundation and it's 100% do-able.

 

[hammlm]

Couple of things.

Make sure you know which wall you want to put up first and make sure another wall isn't on top of it, laying on the deck.

On my project, the 44' wall was raised in two sections. We put the corner up first and only put up about 16' of the long 44' wall. Then we put up the remaining 30' or so feet. It was a splice and went up really easy. See pics

2x6 construction, OSB, Tyvek all on before it went up. That wall only had one opening for a door.

There were only 4 men. You'll be just fine with the numbers you suggest.

 

[nate379]

House they built next door to me, then built the walls standing up. Put the sill plate down first and toe nails the studs into it.

 

[JOHNMAN]

When they built my old shop (36' x 60' x 12'), they built the walls on the ground and stood them up. 4 guys did it.

They did use (2) crank up GIN poles to do the big lifting and the other 2 guys braced the walls off with temporary braces.

 

[atch]

Time out. That's not too far over the top. 40' divided by 8 guys is 5' of wall per man. Standing approx 3 or 4 2x6's and a little over one sheet of cdx on end per guy isn't that hard. ...and you'llactually have all 10 guys for the hardest part - getting the wall the first 2/3rds of the way up.

I've been on crews of 3 and put up 24' side walls (admittedly 2x4 construction). Heavy? Yeah, but there's times when you gotta do what you gotta do.

Like the poster above advised, have your bottom sill pre-drilled and/or a sturdy "kickplate" mounted even with the edge of the foundation and it's 100% do-able.

ditto. no reason you can't do it all at once. you might want to consider building 2 walls and standing them up with bracing; then building/standing the other 2 up.

admittedly i'm old and senile now, but when i was in high school/college i worked several summers building houses. we always built the 2 longest walls and stood them up; braced them; built the 2 end walls and stood them up; then squared everything up and nailed on temporary bracing. then we built the inside walls starting with the longest and working our way to the shortest. i imagine that a straight shop wall with no doors/windows would weigh less than a wall with all the door/window headers and sheeting (we never cut the doors/windows out of the sheeting 'til the walls were in place; it was stronger to stand up that way) so i don't believe that the weight will be too much of a problem.

i wish i were talking to you in person, using my hands (i'm nearly mute without using my hands); i could explain this in a jiffy. it's harder to type my thoughts than it is to talk.

anyway, i'd build the walls entire length instead of sections.

 

[hyvolt]

When i did my shop, we built 1-80' wall fully sheeted, 2"x6" by 10' and raised it with a lull and 8 men. Wouldn't do it that way again.

 

[IDASHO]

I built my 14 foot tall walls "on the flat"

The wall were sheeted, painted, and even had the windows installed before setting them.

And set both the 24' and 30' with just 2 guys....

and a boom truck from work

24' wall getting set in place:

30' wall installed.

 

[carcruse]

I raised my 60' long by 12'-6" tall 2x6 walls myself using a pair of wall jacks. See if you can borrow or rent a pair.

 

[BooUrns!]

Wow you guys are weak.


My last project I raised a 35'x9' fuly sheathed wall by myself. 10 guys would be more than enough, my framing crews would do the same with only 5 guys. Raising walls that size is common place.

I use a tool called a walljack, (two of them actually) it is a metal apparatus that can be winched up a long 2x4. If you place them correctly, anyone can do that size of lift by themselves. The photos above are another type but they do the same job.

DO NOT attempt this if you are not familiar with using this kind of tool. It could prove fatal.

I'll admit that some of the bigger walls do make me nervous, especially when you reach the tipping point, that height where the wall wants to stand and the jack starts to let go (jacks above don't release). I've been hit with one once when I was holding a wall when the jack let go and fell sideways. The worst part was that I couldn't let of the wall. It felt like half my face had been ripped off but I had to keep that wall from falling on me until the other guy braced it.

The other chief concern is the 2x4 you use. If there is a fault in it, it could break suddenly with the wall coming down on you.