Creating an affordable barn-house-plan with no experience.
As we continue the construction of the barn-house-plan, we start the wall framing. You can pre-build the walls in 8 ft sections and stand them up and then nail them to the floor. You need to nail into a floor joist for strength. If you are using 2x6’s for walls, then you will probably want to build in 8 ft sections because of the weight when standing them up.
When you build the frame walls, you will need to space the 2x4’s on 16” centers. With 2x6 walls, you can probably get away with 2’ centers. A barn-house-plan has some flexibility that way. At the corners you will have to make a corner post. Where interior walls will attach to exterior walls, there will need to be a partition post. Corners need to be connected in a strong manner.
Wherever you have a door or window, you will want to put a header to distribute the weight from the upper level to the floor. A 2x6 works well for headers as long as you have adequate support with the cripple studs. Otherwise, you can use a 2x10 board for a really strong header.
After you get the walls up, you will need to run a double plate on top to hold the sections together better. The same thing applies to the interior walls.
A top plate all the way around the exterior wall will be a 2x4 or a 2x6 depending on the thickness of the wall. Most interiors are 2x4 studs so the top plate will be 2x4’s. Make sure to offset the joints to maintain stability. The height of the walls is really up to the owner, but certain dimensions make for easier work. Back in the 70’s, a ceiling height of 7’6” was quite common, but after that, trends went into different directions. A good measurement is an 8’ ceiling. Whatever you decide, you need to remember to adjust your wall height to include the top plate. You can use builder studs that are already cut to the perfect height.
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