Squaring, Bracing And Raising Walls
If the wall is to be
sheathed while
it is on the floor, it should
be moved to the chalkline and the bottom plate toenailed with
double headed nails. Square the wall by measuring the diagonals. Two
tape measures can be used. If the wall is very large, the
3-4-5 method can be used with two tape measures to square the wall. The
larger the 3-4-5 triangle, the more accurate the results will be. Once
the
diagonals are equal and the wall is squared, toenail the top plate to
the floor and sheath the wall. A let in diagonal brace can be used to
keep the wall square also. Once the wall is sheathed, remove the
toenails, raise the wall, plumb and brace it.
Using The 3-4-5 Method
To Find A Right Angle To A Wall
The 3-4-5 method can
also be used to
find a right
angle to a wall as shown in figure 30. The 3-4-5 method is based on the
Pythagorean Theorem. By placing tape
measures along sides 4 and 5 on the right triangle in figure 30, and
keeping the tape measures and wall segment in a 3-4-5 proportion, a
right angle to the wall can be determined. For Example, a right angle
can be found if the wall segment holding the tape measures is 3 metres
and the two tape measures are 4 and 5 metres respectively. Longer wall
segment and tape measure lengths will have smaller measurement errors.
