Mr. Homeowner, Put Up This Wall!

Last night we started rebuilding the bathroom walls, which is a pretty big step, obviously. We're using a few new tools, most notably the pneumatic framing nailer:

This thing is awesome. I think we'd have spent easily 3 times as long trying to build that wall without it and my hammering arm would be mush today. I also got to try out my new air compressor in a more normal sort of activity (previously I had only used it to blow out the sprinkler system) so that is also cool.

Where's this board going? Nowhere. This was our testing board for the nailer. It wasn't driving the nails all the way in at first, so we had to get it adjusted. What better way to test than to nail this tiny piece of wood in place with a dozen nails?

Here's our test fit for the bottom of the wall. Looks good!

This is our cutting station. We brought all the tools up to the master bedroom so we don't have to run up and down stairs a lot. We've also learned a hard lesson about measuring twice and cutting once so every single board has been measured by me and confirmed by my dad.

We made our frame and then tested it in the space to make sure it fit. It's tight. it's actually very tight. We had to tap it into place with a rubber mallet. This is kind of a pain, but it's also kind of good. I'd rather have it be too tight rather than too loose. I'm not afraid to whack this thing with a hammer to make it do my bidding.

Getting the studs placed. We cut the middle ones a little shorter just to make sure it would fit in, but we cut them a little shorter than they needed to be. Not a big deal, but I think we'll adjust that on the next wall.

Almost in place.

Ta-da! It's snug in there. We could almost just leave it be and we could drywall over it without even anchoring it to the walls or ceiling.

We did it anyway. What kind of guy would I be if I didn't use the power of compressed air to drive an unnecessary number of nails into my walls?

We added the corner piece, too. It will be there to hold the drywall on the corner when the time comes.

We also doubled up on the supports there in the middle. We're attaching a wall there and need a nailing surface.

So there you go. One wall built and another couple of bits prepped. We'll be working more on it soon, and should have the whole thing done by this weekend. Then the plumbers and electricians and HVAC guys will come in and do the rest of the work for us, so we can start hanging drywall. Woot! Thanks for reading!