Building it flat and tilting it up is faster than framing in place, and it's how nearly all walls start. You need a floor bigger than the wall, a helper for the lift, a framing nailer or a heavy hammer, a circular saw, a tape, a chalk line, a level and a square. Start by snapping a line on the floor where one face of the bottom plate will sit.
1. Make a cut list
For our wall: 14 feet is 168″, and 168 ÷ 16 = 10.5, which rounds up to 11 spaces, so 12 studs. Each corner or wall that ties in needs a couple more. Plates run the full length, three of them, for 42 linear feet.
The framing calculator counts all of it, including kings, jacks and cripples when you add doors and windows.
Stud length is the wall height minus the three plates. Each plate is 1 1/2″, so 4 1/2″ comes off. For a 97 1/8″ wall, that's a 92 5/8″ stud, and lumber yards sell them precut to that length.
2. Mark the plates together
Cut the bottom plate and one top plate to length, lay them edge to edge, and tack them so they can't slide. Hook your tape on one end. Mark 15 1/4″, then 31 1/4″, then keep adding 16″. Draw a square line across both plates at each mark and put an X on the far side of the line. The stud goes on the X. Marks done this way put the center of each stud at 16″ intervals from the end, so sheets of drywall break on a stud.
Mark both plates at once. Two plates marked separately will drift, and the studs end up out of plumb. If anchor bolts are already set in a slab, mark and drill the bottom plate for them now, because the wall has to drop over them as it stands up.
3. Check for crowns and nail it up
Sight down the narrow edge of each stud. Most boards have a slight bow, called the crown. Lay every stud with its crown facing the same way, up if you're looking at the wall lying down, so the drywall sees a flat surface.
Pull the plates apart and set the studs on the marks. Stand on each stud to hold it flush, and drive two 16d common nails through the plate into each end. IRC Table R602.3(1) calls for three if you're using 16d box nails, 10d box nails or 3-inch gun nails with a 0.131 shank.
4. Frame the openings
Any door or window breaks the layout. Each side gets a full-height king stud and a shorter jack stud that carries the header. Above and below the opening, short cripples keep landing on the regular layout.
Header size is the part you can't guess. In a bearing wall it comes from IRC Tables R602.7(1) and R602.7(2), based on span, building width and snow load. In a nonbearing wall, R602.7.4 says no load-bearing header is needed. The door rough opening guide has the numbers for door openings.
5. Stand it up and fix the bottom
Lift with a helper, and don't try a long wall alone. Line the bottom plate up with your chalk line and nail it into the floor framing. On a slab that touches the ground, the plate has to be pressure-treated or a naturally durable species, unless an impervious moisture barrier separates it from the concrete (IRC R317.1). Exterior walls on concrete also get anchor bolts: IRC R403.1.6 calls for 1/2″ bolts no more than 6 feet apart, at least two in each plate, with one within 12″ of each end.
6. Plumb, brace and add the second top plate
Hold a long level against a stud, or better, a straight board with a level on it. When the wall is plumb, nail a diagonal brace from a stud down to a block on the floor. Do both ends, then check the middle.
Add the second top plate last, with its joints at least 24″ from any joint in the first (IRC R602.3.2). At corners it laps over the next wall, which is what ties the walls together.
What an inspector looks at
- Notches and holes. In a bearing or exterior wall, a stud can't be notched more than 25% of its depth, and a hole bigger than 40% means the stud has to be doubled (IRC R602.6).
- Fireblocking. Concealed wall spaces are blocked at floor and ceiling levels, and tall walls need blocks at 10-foot intervals (IRC R302.11).
- Treated plates. A plate on a slab should be stamped as treated unless a moisture barrier separates the two.
- Header sizes. Have the table and your numbers ready.
Bracing, nailing and insulation rules vary, and wind and earthquake zones add their own requirements, so ask your building department what applies.