An old framer in Boise gave me the best advice I still use

Last spring I was helping out on a crew out in Boise and this older guy, must have been 60, watched me square up a wall for like five minutes. He walked over and said, "You're fighting the plate, let the studs tell you where they want to sit." I thought he was messing with me but I tried it, just tapped each stud loose and let them find their own spot. The wall went up straight on the first try, no crowbar needed. Has anyone else had a trick like that where you stop forcing things and just let the wood work with you?

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jamie77023d ago

Wait, isn't that the exact opposite of what every framing video on YouTube tells you? I spent years making sure every stud was shimmed and forced into place, thinking that was the only way to get things straight. Then one day I had a wall that fought me for an hour, and I remembered some old timer saying the same thing. I pulled my shims out, tapped the studs until they felt loose in the plate, and they just settled into a line that was dead nuts. Now I tell everyone the wood knows where it wants to go, you just have to listen. It feels like giving up control, but it's really about letting the lumber be itself instead of bending it to your will.