Final Walls & Ridge Beam Up

June 5, 2020

Today the final walls and the ridge beam went up.

New Hampshire has very rocky soil. We built that rock wall almost entirely of stones that were excavated while digging the trench for electrical service to the studio.

This evening my son and I spread the rest of the gravel pile, making a nice area in front of the studio that won’t be muddy when it rains.

This was as far as I could get on my own. The walls were simply too heavy to lift on my own. I tried.

I cleaned up the work area and attached Tyvek to the last wall.

As the walls went up we started to get a good sense of the space.

Ryan and Abby came by and helped my wife and I lift the final walls into place.

Abby ensured the wall didn’t tip over while I attached the secondary top-plate.

Once the walls were up, I put top-plates on that overlapped the end walls.

The side walls are still not quite plumb, but they are also not fully attached yet.. I’ll have to make some final adjustments and attach them all the way.

Now we finally have lots of floor space.

Once you cut this ridge beam, there’s no going back.

Next was to get the ridge beam up. We did some final measurements twice using a measuring tape and a laser, just to be sure.

This ridge beam is a 25.25 ft. long 3.5 in x 9.5 in. LVL rated for more than three times the weight I estimate will ever be on it.

We carefully measured the center of the ridge beam, ensuring we could raise it with just one hoist.

This beam is incredibly stiff. Ryan was eager to try it out.

Once we got it high enough, we rested it on the header while we setup to move it into the final position. It was immediately rock solid.

The hoist sling was actually wedged under the rafters, making the final 1/4 in. of movement into the pocket nearly impossible. We realized this later on.

Two people on a ladder sitting atop the second stage of scaffolding platform that’s already 10ft off the ground was uncomfortable, but Ryan and I successfully moved the ridge beam into the pockets of each end wall.

Sixth Wall Framed
Ledger Board