Chapter Four: Shelter (Additional Resources)

UNHCR Emergency Shelter Tents,
inside the Menik Farm camp for displaced people,
near Vavuniya, Sri Lanka (ca 2009)
photograpg by
Russell Watkins
UK Department for International Development

Articles:

A Tepee (ca 1911)
source
The British Library

Links:

Archive.org - The Modern Survival Retreat
https://ia801300.us.archive.org/20/items/UrbanSurvival/The%20Modern%20Survival%20Retreat.pdf


Native Shelters

Native-Languages.org - Native American Houses
http://www.native-languages.org/houses.htm

Great Dreams.com - Native American Housing
http://greatdreams.com/native/nativehsg.htm


Alternative Housing

Wikipedia - Straw Bale Construction
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Straw-bale_construction

Wikipedia - Earthship
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earthship

20th Century Castles - Home
http://www.missilebases.com/

Davis Caves - Home
http://www.daviscaves.com/index.shtml

A family Uses Tarps to get shelter from the sun (ca 2017)
photograph by
Z. Baddorf
Voice of America

Videos:

YouTube: IA Woodsman - Basic Tarp Set Up
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OE0EGzutLS4

YouTube: mynineridesshotgun - Tarp Shelter Setup for Winter: Bushcraft USA 10x10
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0wfmcTPlqlE

YouTube: PREPAREDMIND101 - Simple Shelters 2: 10mil Wal Mart Tarp
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Cle8nNB4s0

YouTube: PREPAREDMIND101 - Simple Shelters 3: Tarp Tent
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zgl4XZ6uMcM

YouTube: PREPAREDMIND101 - Simple Shelters 4: The Potato Chip Bag Shelter
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d2Ka2m_uK90

YouTube: Jeff Quitney - Winter Camping: "Sub-Arctic Winter Bivouacking" 1955 US Army Training Film
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pyv2gsCo7Vo

YouTube: Patriot Nurse - A Visit to an Israeli Bomb Shelter
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9rWgaAIAgFk&list=UUqYf0XacrXizu9KI1kgqq3g

Table of Contents                    Chapter Five: Water

Small Building Construction, Part Twelve

Mr. Danny Shine, at Speaker's Corner
London, England (ca 2009)
photograph by
Acapeloahddub

If you see this message, I am having picture taking issues. Plus, this is it for my small building construction project, at least the parts I'm willing to share.

So, on with a rant.

I was reading someone else the other day and she said something like 'If you need a detailed manual to survive, you have bigger issues."

I whole heartily agreed until I realized most folks had non-preppers as parents

Let me explain.

When I was two years old, my mother 'bugged-out' from our family's home because of the Cuban missile crisis. She dressed my sister and I in our nicest clothes; grabbed the bugout bags, she and my father had packed after he was notified about an emergency deployment to the Caribbean, and we flew north out of danger.

Most other families, in our neighborhood, stayed.

At six or seven, my sister and I found my mom and dad's stash of silver dollars. To get these silver dollars, my dad would go to the bank and ask for dollar coins as change for a five dollar bill.

When I was tenish, a hurricane was headed towards our home. My father went into our bathrooms and filled the bathtubs with water and added a little bleach (about a cup). My mother wanted to go to the store, but my dad stopped her. He told her we have about seven days worth of canned food in the house; (This was back when folks only got paid once a month) we don't need any more food.

On the way home, my father stopped at hardware store and bought charcoal, some lighter fluid, and filled the car with gas. He saw many of our neighbors trying to buy food from empty supermarkets. We watched the tv as the storm approached. When the storm finally reached us, we all hid in the small bathroom under the stairway. After the storm, and before the lights came back on, my father grilled on the back patio with his military flashlight for illumination after checking on the elderly neighbors, next door.

My mother? She was cooking everything else using her stainless steel pots and pans.

When I was thirteen, my father and grandfather taught my sister and I how to shoot a .22LR single shot rifle. My younger brother would learn this too when he turned thirteen.

I can remember my grandfather grumbling about we should have learned how to shoot when my sister had turned eight.

When I was fifteen my father started teaching me how to drive. He taught me how to replace a flat tire, steer out of a skid, drive real fast, and talk to the police if I was ever stopped.

At about seventeen, my father would send me to collect rent money from his apartment tenants. He taught me how to ask nicely for the rent and be respectful, but also how to watch my back.

After I joined the military, both my father and mother roles in my life changed. They became mentors to me. My mother taught me how to 'see' the invisible messages of corporations, and my father taught me how to trasistion to  the corprate culture.

I have to go but I want to leave you one last thought about my survivalist parents.

When I was fortyish both my mother and father taught me how to die, kicking, scratching, and struggling to survive one more day.

So,

Where's the rant in all this?

No matter what others say, each of us are survivors, and we can learn how to survive the tough times ahead.

Small Building Construction, Part Ten and Eleven

In the last installment of this small building construction project, I promised I'd tell you about the problems we had with installing the metal roofing.

Needless to say, just like dimensional lumber, every piece of metal roofing was true, square, and exactly the same size. Well, the roof wasn't.

Let me explain.

Notice the Roof Decking
especially the gaps

I had ignored some problems when I was installing the roof decking. First, the OSB (oriented strand board) wasn't going on easily. I had to cut some pieces that weren't square. Second, (I found this out later) the trusses need to be evenly apart, and the end trusses, just like the walls, need to be plumb. Mine weren't. Lastly, the purlins overhang, I thought, exactly 12 inches; they didn't.

So,

When I put up my first sheet of metal roofing (The metal roofing is about 36 inches wide) and tried to square the metal to the roof, it overhung the roof decking at the top by about an inch and a half. Yes, only 1 1/2 inches.

Well, you can see that difference from the ground, so I had to take the sheet of metal off. mark the wood decking that needed to be cut off, remove the rake, cut the wood decking (and the purlins), reinstall the rake, and reinstall the metal roofing.

It was a pain in the *ss undoing all that work, but it went back together a whole lot easier. Another reason to use screws on small building projects ; - )

Needless to say, once the first sheet of metal roofing goes on; it's easy to install the other sheets of metal roofing. All you need to do is lay down the next sheet (per the manufacture's specifications), even it up, screw it down, then go to the next sheet. Easy.

Oh, did I tell you; the other side of the roof was uneven, too. So, I redid that side of the roof.

Then, I talked to the carpenters working on our barn about installing gutters because we want to add a rain barrel, later on. They said to make sure the metal roofing overhangs at least one inch. You guessed it. The metal roofing that I had installed was flush with the eaves.

So,

I take off all the sheets of metal roofing, replace all the roofing felt/tar paper because it had a bunch of holes in it, and reinstalled the metal roofing with a one inch overhang. Next, I added the ridge vent at the very top (and slipped off the roof)

Of course, it rained a few days later. You guessed it, again. The inside of the building was dry!!!

Now, you and your family could stop here, all you would need to do is add a coat of paint, but I want a building that looks good.

So, we ordered all the other pieces of metal that go with this roof.


Part Eleven

Sorry folks,

It has been hectic these last few days. I was told about an upcoming job opening, two weeks ago; I called the manager, that day, to express my interest; I had a job interview, last Friday; I was offered and accepted the job, on Monday. Terminated my old position, yesterday, and I'll start on Monday.

I'll make a little bit more money (25¢ an hour) but the 'new' place has some troubles.

Because of all this, and the hot weather, I haven't had time to work on, write an update, and download the pictures for the chicken coop project.

Oh, well.

You'll have to come back to see how the project is coming along.

Small Building Construction, Part Eight and Nine

A Man with a Dislocated Shoulder and Broken Leg (ca unk)
source
Wellcome Images

Part Eight

I apologize for failing to post about what's going on with the chicken-coop.

We are currently experiencing a heatwave that makes it difficult to do any building, so it has been slow going, recently.

Just so you know, my family and I have been working on the metal roof for the coop. I should have pictures up for next week. Plus, ...

I fell off the chicken-coop's roof yesterday.

I was installing the ridge vent and slipped. I tried to stay on the roof, but the metal was too slick. I slide off the roof, dropping 7 feet onto the ladder.

I'm OK except for several bruises.

So, thanks for understanding.



Part Nine

Normally the roof of a house will be added before any doors or windows are installed.

Why?

The roof protects the inside of the building from rain and other wet/damp weather. This protection prevents the floor from getting wet and other damage. Now, a roof can be made of different material. Most houses have asphalt shingles. Other homes have metal roofs, and some homes use other material such as cedar shakes, slate tile, clay tile, thatch, and ...

We decided to install a metal roof because I have no/little experience putting up shingles. My brother Jumper says it's easy. Well, he wasn't around, so ...

There are three ways of installing a metal roof

Barn with Replacement Purlins, Rafters, and Posts Installed

First, purlins mounted to the rafters. This is the easiest and least expensive. Once the pulins are on the rafters, the metal roof can be installed on the purlins.

The picture to the left shows the repairs to our barn that burnt, a couple of months ago. The purlins are the horizontal pieces of wood on the barn's roof.

The replacement metal roofing will be added in a few hours then the metal siding.

Chicken Coop showing Rafters
and
some of the Purlins Installed

Now, as I mentioned before, I notched the rafters to accept the purlins, on the chicken coop. Since the chicken coop is so small, I only needed two purlins, at two feet and four feet.

You will also notice another difference between the two buildings. The purlins overhang on the chicken coop because I wanted a one foot overhand on all sides of the small building, and the purlins on the barn are flush with the sides of the barn.

Once the purlins are installed the metal roofing goes on. The roofing is screwed or nailed to the purlins.

The next method of installing a metal roof requires decking to be mounted to the rafters. Roof decking is commonly OSB or plywood. In the old days, 2 X 12s were used.

When installing decking, make sure to follow the manufactures directions. The OSB we used requires an 1/8 inch gap between each piece of OSB.

Needless to say, once the decking (no purlins are needed) is installed the metal roofing is put up. Normally, the roofing is screwed on.

The last method of installing a metal roof requires roofing felt to be laid over the roof decking. Now, the roofing felt is installed in a specific manner.

First, the bottom piece is rolled on. There are two ways of doing this. For a small roof, like the chicken coop. I cut the roofing felt on the ground just a little bit longer then needed, rolled the cut piece of felt, went over to the roof and applied the roofing felt.

For larger roofs, I would take the whole roll and roll in out onto the roof. Using whole rolls until the roof was completely covered with roofing felt.

Second, another piece of roofing felt is added. The second piece overlaps the first piece.

Why?

If any water gets under the actual roof, the water will continues running down the roofing felt without getting the inside of the building wet.

Of course, you can see that I went with the most complicated and expensive method of installing a metal roof. It was unintentional.

Either way you go, it's time to add the metal roofing.

Metal roofing is easy to install, once you get the first piece level and plumb.

Needless to say, it didn't happen that way for me.

More about that later.

Small Building Construction, Part Seven

Dear Preppers and Survivalists,

The floor, four walls, window's rough openings, ten trusses, siding, six windows and now ...

Double doors have been added to the small building.

I wanted double doors, so we could use the small building for multiple purposes, such as a storage shed, chicken coop, emergency shelter, or an office.

Now, I have built doors using various methods. I built one with a frame around the outside, with the 2X4s flat; I built one with a frame on the inside, with the 2X4 on edge; but I have never built one like I did this time.

First, I measured the door's opening; it is 48 inches wide and 73 1/2 inches tall. Plus, I wanted the door to match the siding.

So,

Side View of Door
showing the plywood and siding glued together

I cut down a piece of siding to the correct dimensions (48 by 73 1/3 inches) then I laminated that piece of siding to a sheet of 3/8 inch plywood.

To laminate the two pieces of wood, I laid the plywood on a flat level surface (garage floor) then I spread glue on the piece of siding, laid the siding on the plywood, and evenly placed a lot of weight on the two pieces. I let it sit for about a week.

After the week was up, I carefully cut the laminated siding and plywood to the proper size, again Now, I also removed about a 1/4 of an inch from the outside edge, so I ended up with a single piece of wood 73 1/3 by 47 1/2 inches wide.

Both Top Inside Edges Marked with a Pencil

Next, I cut the sheet of wood in half.

I used a certain method to accomplish this. I placed two 2X6s on top of my plastic saw horses then I cut the line; I had drawn.

This protected my plastic saw horses. If I had been using wooded saw horses, I would have just cut the wood, with no protection for the saw horses.

After I cut the laminated siding and plywood in half, I made a mark, with a pencil, on the top inside corner of each piece of wood. The mark allowed me to keep track of which side/edge I was working on.

Of course, I have been agonizing over the design for the door. Should it be a "Z," or an "X," or some other design?

See the Mark

I finally settled on a very simple design. The design would be two 'bars' with a center piece of 1X4 surrounded by 1X4 trim.

To start the design, I measured a piece of 1X4 (73 1/3 inches) for the center. I glued it then I centered it on the edge, allowing the 1X4 to hang over the edge by about two inches. Next, I clamped two clamps, turned the 'door' over and screwed four 1 5/8 inch long screws through the door.

Next, I measured 12 inches from the top and bottom of the door than I measured from the door's outside edge, cut two pieces of 1X4 (about 22 inches), spread glue on it, clamped the 1X4 to the door, turned it over, and screwed four 1 5/8 inch long screws through the door into each pice of 1X4.

Double Door
right-hand side

After I did that, I mounted the hinges to the door. I kind'a followed the hinge's directions. Next, I took the door to the small building, centered the door and mounted the door. I had to use a few wedges to get the proper clearance on the door's top and bottom. Next, kind'a following the hinge's directions, I mounted the door to the building.

I kind'a followed the same process for the other side of the door, but I only glued and screwed the 'bars' to the double door's left-hand side.

The Finished Door
(Outside)

The Finished Door
(Opened)

The Finished Door
(Inside)

Now, the double door is large enough that a person needs to open only the right-hand side to enter the building. Both doors can be opened for any large objects.

Needless to say, I'm not finished, yet.

I still need to add 'stops' for the door on the top, sides, and bottom. I also need to add drip edge to the top and bottom of the door and doorway.

Why drip edge and door stops?

The drip edge will protect the door from any water dripping into the door this prevents the door from rotting. The door stops will help seal the door, preventing any drafts. Chickens don't handle drafts very well.

That's it for now. Next will be the roof.

Small Building Construction, Part Six

Dear Preppers and Survivalists,

Before we begin, I added some commentary and a few pictures to "Small Building Construction, Part Five."

Plus, I would like to apologize. I had the wrong date and time for this article.


Remember when I talked about headers, sills, and cripples, nows the time to talk about installing windows.

Four Holes Drilled Through the Siding

Needless to say, the siding is now covering the rough openings that I cut in the sheathing, so I have to cut the siding.

First, I drill four holes through the siding. (If you want to save some time, you only need to drill two holes)

Connecting the Holes with a Reciprocating Saw

Next, I use a saw-all (reciprocating saw) to cut the wood. Basically, I connect the dots ; - )

Of course, my lines weren't very straight, but this is the rough cut that creates an opening for the window.

Opening for the Window
as
the scrap siding falls away

Next, I cut the siding as close as possible to the 2X4s.

You will notice, in the picture to the left, this messed up the tyvek house wrap around the rough opening. : - (







So,

Repair to the Tyvek House Wrap 

I had to add some house wrap around the window's opening, before I put the window in place.

You will notice that the pieces overlap. so any water that gets behind the siding will always flow between the house wrap and the siding.

1/2 inch Bead of 100% Silicon Caulk
Top and Sides Only

Next, I added a thick bead of 100% silicon caulk around the top and two sides of the window's nailing strip. I didn't add any caulk to the bottom so water will drain from the bottom of the window.

Two 'Big' Windows and Pop Door Opening

Next, I screwed the window into place using the window's instructions. The screws should go through the siding and into the 2X4s underneath the sheathing.

Lastly, I finished each window by placing caulk at the very top of the windows to prevent water from getting through the little groves in the siding.

Needless to say, I used the same techniques for all six windows.

Small Building Construction, Part Five

Dear Preppers and Survivalists,

So far, the foundation has been laid, the floor was built, the walls have been roughed in, and the roof is kind'a on. Now, we are going to talk about siding.

There are many different kinds of siding, vinyl, cedar shingle, and ... to name a few. We decided on an engineered wood. It has a kind'a bead board look, on the front, and OSB on the back.

Now, I'm going crazy. We are putting up tyvek house wrap on this shed.

House wrap helps to weather-proof the walls by allowing water vapor to flow through the wall but keeps rain and wind out of the building.

Why did we do it?

Because we live in earthquake country. I wanted a small, well-built alternative shelter, just in case we lost the house to an earthquake.

Now, you will notice that I didn't use the tape DuPont recommends when overlapping the tyvek because I overlapped, a lot. Each corner is overlapped by about 16 inches. The top, that's uncovered in this picture, will have a 24 inch overlap.

If you're wondering why, I had to buy a 100 foot roll. I only needed about 50 feet.

A short 2X4, about two feet long,
for attaching sheathing and siding

Next, I finished the rest of the walls, by filling in the top of the walls with two triangles.

But,

Before I did that, I had to add a small piece of 2X4 to act as an attachment point for the sheathing.

Now, you will notice I attached the 2X4 at the top by screwing through the plywood at the top of the trusses and the OSB wall sheathing.

You will also notice the seam for the two sheets of OSB wall sheathing meet at the small piece of plywood.

So, how did I mark the wood to fill in these two triangle? I used a little geometry.

First, I measured the bottom of the triangle opening, from the edge of the OSB to under the roof. Next, I measured from the bottom to the top of the roof kind'a along an imaginary line that follows the seam of the OSB.

Next, I cut the piece of wood into the triangle then measured (really a guesstimate) the part that I needed to cut off the triangle to allow it to fit.

Needless to say, I made a mistake. OSB is designed to have an inside and an outside side. One side is marked: "This Side Down" that side faces the inside of the building. The other side, unmarked, is the outside side.

As you can see from the above photo, one triangle is marked the other unmarked. I didn't realize I made a mistake until I took the photo.

Oh, well. Another part that is "less than perfect."

Once that was finished, I 'wrapped' that part of the building with tyvek. I cut a piece of about six feet wide, turned it on it's side, stapled the top, stapling as I moved along the roof, and cut the excess house wrap, once I finished stapling.

Once, the house wrap was finished; I cut the openings for the windows. I folded the cut pieces, so the top, sides, and bottom of the window's rough opening would be protected.

I didn't cut a small piece of tyvek to completely cover the bottom of the rough opening. I wasn't going that crazy.

Next, I started attaching the siding.

The siding, we choose, come in a four feet by eight feet sheet. Since our walls are seven feet high, and I wanted a 2 inch overhang to cover the outer part of the floor. I cut the siding down to 7 feet 2 inches.

My wife had to work late, so she couldn't help with the siding, so I had to hang it by myself.

I was able to do that by rigging some wood to hold the siding panel as I wrestled it into position. Once the siding was in position, I nailed it to the walls.

About that being 'in position.'

Because there are these long vertical lines in the siding, I had to insure the siding panel was hanging straight up and down (plumb). To do that, I held the siding up as I held a four-foot long level to the side of the panel then nailed it in place. Needless to say, it was a lot harder doing it then writing it.

At first, I only used four nails, one on each corner. Plus, I only hammered the nails in halfway. Doing this allowed my to remove the siding panel, if I screwed up. (The siding panel was crocked, didn't overlap properly, gap too small/large, additionally; it allowed me to correct any other problems)

Again, I checked, using a four-foot level, to make sure the siding was plumb.

The 'almost' Finished Siding

Starting from one corner, I want around the building nailing the siding in place, with four nails.

Once I checked the siding, again, to make sure it was straight, I went around the building nailing two nails in each siding 'slat' (It's the thin narrow strips; you see in the siding). One set of nails about 18 inches from the top and another set of nails 18 inches from the bottom of the siding.

Next, I cut the siding pieces for the very top just like I did for the sheathing, almost.

Notched Siding

This time, for the siding, I notched it so the siding fitted around the purlins. To attach these pieces of siding, I only nailed two nails at the top of each triangle.

Why?

I will be adding small metal strips called flashing between the top and bottom panels. The flashing should stop water from running down behind the siding, hopefully.

To add the flashing, I will place the metal flashing behind the top piece of siding and on the outside of the lower piece of siding. Next, I will finish nailing the top part of siding. This should allow the water to flow freely down the side of the siding panels without allowing water to run behind the siding.

Small Building Construction, Part Four

Dear Preppers and Survivalists,

Note:
Folks, I didn't get some of the photos posted before we left on our vacation, so you'll need to check back. : - (

Really
There is a scientific/mathematical method of figuring how to calculate the slope of the roof. I don't know what it is, so I used a SWAG (Scientific Wild *ss Guess) method by building a template.

Making the Template
On oriented strand board (OSB), the manufacture places different colored lines. These lines allow you to figure where to cut and where to drive the nails when used as sheathing.

Me? I used the lines as a reference for making my template.

Since the small building is 8 feet wide, I laid a 2X4 on a sheet of OSB at an angle. Marked the 2X4 where it went over the edges, top and bottom.

Next, I cut the board.

Needless to say, I bought extra 2X4s so I could make some mistakes while I worked on the rafter. Plus, it's a little more involved then that.

So, ... Let me explain with pictures

I Hate Books
Not really because they gave me many good ideas.

My wife brought me this book on building chicken coops from the library. The book had an idea for notching the rafters for the roof purlins.

So,

This idea added extra work, but it looks 'clean' when finished.

Be Warned:
If you live in big snow country, you might want to use 2X6s as your rafters and attach the purlins to the top of the rafters. No notching.

Building the Trusses
There are different ways of building a roof. You can decide to use a ridge board supported at the ends then attach each rafter to the ridge board or build trusses. There might be other methods, but I only have used these two.

We decided to build trusses.

First, I took a sheet of plywood, laid it long ways on some saw horses, and screwed some scrap 2X4s to give me the correct distance to simulate the top of the walls.

Next, I placed each rafter's bird's mouth (seat cut) on the 2X4.

This picture shows the bird's mouth very far away from the 2X4. You need to make sure the rafter is tight against the 2X4.

Less than Perfect

Next, I take the other end of the rafters and put them together.

Needless to say, my rafters didn't turn out perfect. This is one spot where I went for "less than perfect.'

Of course, as I moved the rafter one end would be tight against the other 2X4, but the other end would get a little loose.

So, I was constantly checking to make sure everything was in place.

Next, I screwed a small piece of plywood (1 foot by 2 foot long) to one side of the two rafters, at the very top.

Flipped it over and screwed another piece of plywood to the other side of the rafters.

I used four screws per side.

Next, I cut the over hanging bits off with a circular saw.

Notice, I staggered the screws on each side of the rafters, so the screws wouldn't be holding the same spot on the 2X4 rafter.

Once all of the trusses were finished, I placed them on the walls.

Next, I attached each truss to the ceiling joists with four screws, two on each side.

Then, I cut each end of the ceiling joists at an angle, attached the end trusses to the OSB, and cut the OSB to match the angle of the trusses.

Next, I added the purlins. Since we wanted a one foot overhang on all for sides of the roof, I made sure the purlins stuck out 12 inches from the trusses. Latter on, I will add the rake; after we put the solid decking and metal roof on.

This picture, to the right, kind'a shows a detail of the purlins attached to the rafter in the notch and the notch I had to cut in the OSB to allow the bottom purlin to fit.

As of this writing, my wife and I have added two sheets of OSB, for solid decking, and a 12 feet by 16 foot tarp to act as a temporary roof.

What I Would Do Differently
First, I would find someone to teach me the calculation for finding slope for a roof

Second, I would only place two trusses up on the walls at a time. It was a little windy and the trusses kept moving. I would get hit in the head every once in a while. Ouch : - (

Third, I would have cut the ceiling joists (the angle for the trusses) on the ground before putting the joists on top the walls.

Lastly, I would have bought the metal roofing before I started the roof. Doing this would have allowed me to plan the final dimensions of the roof instead of waiting.

Link:
Camp-Rigby - Anatomy of a Roof
http://camprigby.com/anatomy%20of%20a%20roof.htm

or

A & B Construction - Anatomy of a Roof
http://roof.cc/html/anatomy_of_a_roof.html
Note: This link has the colored picture.

or

Structure Magazine - The Case for an Engineer of Record for a Metal Building System
http://www.structuremag.org/article.aspx?articleID=442
Note: For the illustration.

YouTube - Framing Roofs, Part 1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4oIq-asaOEk&feature=related

or

Carpentry: Pro-Framer - Basic Roof Framing Instructions
http://www.carpentry-pro-framer.com/Roof-Framing.html

Small Building Construction, Part Three

Dear Preppers and Survivalists,

I figured I should talk about window headers, window sills, and cripples before going on to the roof.

Rough Openings
All windows have a 'rough opening.' This opening is the required opening that needs to be in the wall before the window is mounted in the wall. The rough opening measurements can be found written in the window's installation instructions.

Now, we are going to have eight windows, two on each wall for ventilation.. Two big windows require a ??X?? rough opening and the other windows require a 14 inch by ?? inch rough opening.

Rough Opening
for the
"Big" Window

In this picture, you can see the doubled 2X6s for the window header and the single 2X4 for the window sill. The short pieces of 2X4 studs are called cripples.

So, why do you need a header?

Remember, the top plate (the double 2X4s) acts as support for the roof. When you cut an opening in the wall that spans between studs, you have to replace that missing support. The header acts as that support.

Now, needless to say, the bigger the opening, the bigger the header.

I talked to some former carpenters at work and they said a doubled 2X6 would be fine for this short of a header. Plus, one remarked: "It's a chicken coop. If you really wanted, you could probably use double 2X4s as a header."

Now, if you were putting in a picture window in your home, you would need a much thicker header, maybe a 2X10 or 2X12, maybe even an engineered wooden header or a steel beam header for a really large window.

OK, back to building a small building.

Rough opening
for the
"Small" window

The small window's rough opening is 14 inches wide by ?? inches tall, so I don't need a big header because there is no need to support the roof, since none of the studs were cut.

Wow, what a sentence!

Needless to say, you want to know why I covered up the windows rough openings with the OSB sheathing.

It's a lot easier to cover up the opening, and cut it out later, than cut the sheathing then attach it to the 2X4 wall.

I almost forgot.

The cripples, those short pieces of 2X4 above the headers and below the window sills, act as a place to secure the sheathing to the wall. They basically 'fill in' for the studs that I removed for the window opening.

Just so you know, they're called cripples because they are 'broken' studs.

Making the Headers
Just like I said earlier, we used 2X6s as headers. Since they are going to support some of the weight of the roof, I doubled them.

When I was screwing the studs into the top plate and the sill, I placed one 2X6 between the studs and screwed it into the stud with six screws (three on each side) Next, I placed the other 2X6 even with the top edge of the stud and screwed it in with another six screws (again, three on each side)

The former carpenters said I could place a piece of plywood between the double 2X6s to fill in the gap.

Or,

I could nail the two 2X6s together and make sure the header is even with the inside edge of the stud.

Or,
I could do it the way I described.

Lastly, one of the guys said that I could also place a cripple between the header and the window sill for added, really added, support for the roof. As you can tell, I didn't do that.

Small Building Construction, Part Two

Dear Preppers and Survivalists,

Building the Walls
The recently completed floor makes a great place to assemble the twelve feet long walls.

The Sill Plate

This is a picture of the wall that will have the double doors. The doors will be in the center of the wall.

Since the wall is 12 feet long, I had to add a four foot piece of 2X4 to an eight piece of 2X4 to get my twelve feet.

If you enlarge this picture and look at the bottom of the forth 2X4 from the left, you will notice the splice for the two pieces of 2X4.

The Top Plate

Now, the top of the wall (top plate) will have double 2X4s. These double 2X4s will support the roof.

I staggered the seams between the four foot and eight foot pieces of 2X4s. This increases the stability of the wall.

After I did that, I added headers for the door. The headers are made from double 2X6s. Just like the top plate, the headers will help support the roof.

Next, I 'squared' the walls, just like I did for the floor. I measure diagonally from corner to corner, remembering the measurement. Next, I measure diagonally from the other corner then pushing or softly kicking the corners make them the same distance.

After I squared the wall, I screwed oriented strand board (OSB) to the 2X4s as sheathing. I used 2 inch exterior deck screws to secure the sheathing.

Next I cut the sheathing to the proper length.

To do this, I made the saw blade just a little bit deeper then the sheathing then I very carefully, using the top plate as my guide, cut the OSB

If you want to, you can measure the sheathing, cut it to length then secure it to the 2X4 studs with nails or screws.

Figuring the Length of the 2X4 Studs
Ok. The walls for this small building are going to be 7 feet tall that means I am going to have to cut a bunch of 2X4s.

Since 2X4s are really 1 1/2 inches by 3 1/2 inches. I am going to have to figure how much I need to cut off each 2x4.

Why?

We added a sill plate which is one 2X4 (1 1/2 inches) and a top plate which is two 2X4s (3 inches) to the 2X4s; we used for the wall.

So,

7 feet times 12 inches equals 84 inches long minus 4 1/2 inches gives us a length of 79 1/2 inches.

So, each 2X4 stud needs to be cut to 79 1/2 inches.

Needless to say, if your walls are going to be 8 feet tall, the home improvement stores will have 2X4s already cut to the proper length, for 8 foot walls.

8 feet times 12 equals 96 inches minus 4 1/2 inches equals 91 1/2 inch long 2X4s for 8 foot tall walls.

Back to Work
Once the first wall is complete, I built the second 12 foot long wall on top of the first wall. This second wall will have two windows.

Before I begin, I want you to notice the location of the tarp in this picture and the very first picture, at the top.

In the first picture, the top plate is next to the tarp.

In this picture, to the right, the second wall's sill plate is next to the tarp.

There is a very important reason for this.

Next, I add window headers.

Lastly, I added the wall sheathing. Just like the first wall, I 'squared' the wall, use OSB as sheathing, and 2 inch exterior deck screws to secure the sheathing.

Raising the Walls
There is a reason why we built the walls on the floor. They are heavy.

So,

To raise the walls, you want to screw two short pieces of 2X4, using at least two screws, to the side of the floor, then pick up the wall. You'll want at least two more people to make the lifting easy.

You can probably lift the wall with two people, but why kill yourself.

In the picture above, this is the second wall. You can see the two pieces of scrap 2X4. They act as stops to prevent the wall from sliding off the floor when you pick it up.

Using your foot, maybe a sludge hammer, and a little brute force, you need to line up the wall on the edge of the floor.

Once everything is lined up, you are going to add two diagonal braces to keep the walls from falling over. Next, raise the next wall and add two more diagonal braces.

Ok.

We ran out of daylight, so I added some top braces to add just a little bit of stability to the small building, just in case.

Remember
Remember me mentioning the tarp. Make sure you have the sill plate (single 2X4) on the bottom and the top plate (double 2X4) on the top.

The next day, we removed the top braces. Next, my wife held one wall as I removed its diagonal braces, and I plumbed (made sure the walls were straight up and down) that wall with a four foot level. Once, that wall was plumb, I screwed the braces back in and we did the other wall.

After plumbing the walls, I screwed two 3 inch exterior deck screws through the sill plate into the floor. This will prevent the wall from moving.

It would be great if the screws went into the joists. Also notice, the two screws are in the middle of the two 2X4 studs.

Now, remember.

If you want to use nails, use nails.

But, remember, too

Screws are a lot easier to take out, if you screw up. ; - )

Note: I might have a separate article on all the mistakes I made. We'll see.

Building the Other Walls
The short walls, on the ends, will be less than eight feet. There's a reason for this. The 12 foot long walls are  over 3 1/2 inches thick. Remember, 2X4s are 1 1/2 inches by 3 1/2 inches.

Instead of figuring the length of the short walls, I just took measurements with my tape measure.

After I took my measurement, I built the end wall in the grass.

Just like the first and second wall, I cut a bunch of 2X4s to the proper length (79 1/2 inches for a 7 foot wall).

I added headers and window sills for the two windows on each wall then carried the wall over to the building.

Just so you know, the end walls also have a top plate (double 2X4) and a sill plate (single 2X4)

Next, I placed the wall into proper position, and I screwed the end wall to the other wall.

If you look closely at this picture, you will notice the top plate is only a single 2X4.

There is a reason for this.

I notched the two 12 foot walls, so an eight foot long 2X4 could be added to the top of the end wall, stabilizing the building.

After both end walls have been added, I added the sheathing to the end walls.

I didn't cut the sheathing for the end walls.

As you can see, I used the complete 4 foot by 8 foot of the sheet of OSB; additionally, the OSB overlaps the sides of the first walls.

Just like all the other sheathing, we used 2 inch exterior grade screws.

The next step is the roof.

What I Would Do Differently
First, I would have built the smaller end walls on the building's floor. It was a pain getting them set-up properly. Plus, the end walls were just a hair bigger, this made it slightly difficult (I ended up taking one end wall down and re-cutting the sill plate), but remember just a little brute force.

Link:
Wikipedia - Wall Plate
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wall_plate