PUTTING up ADOBE WALLS

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Construct wood frame walls of 2 X 4's as shown in Fig. 8. When you are building a plumbing wall and the pipes are not quite in line, construct the wall of 2 X 6's instead of 2 X 4's.

To lay out the wall plate, take the bottom and top 2 X 4's (called plates) and cut them the exact length of the wall you intend to build. Then temporarily nail the plates together. If the wall is longer than the 2 X 4's you are using, add 2 X 4's to reach the desired length.

Now take a tape measure and, starting at one end, make a mark with a pencil every 16 inches (41 cm.) on the edges of the two plates. This process marks the centers of the wall studs (vertical 2 X 4's). Two 2 X 4 trimmers also go around each door and window, as shown in Fig. 8.

Some builders like to mark the edge of each stud instead of the center. Since the standard width of most 2 X 4's is 1-1/2 inches (3.8 cm.), the first edge would fall 15-1/4 inches (38.7 cm.) from the corner, the second 31-1/4 inches (79.4 cm.), and so forth.

After you have marked the plates, take them apart, cut the 2 X 4 studs to size, and nail the wall plate together according to your plan. As noted, headers (supporting pieces) go over each door and window. When you are finished, stand the wall plate up, place it in the proper position, and nail it to the floor with cement nails.

You can tie this wall into an adobe wall by placing nailers between the adobe blocks as you build the wall (much as we did for the rough bucks). Or you can build the stud wall first, joining the two walls with 20-penny nails by embedding the heads of the 20-penny nails in the mortar of the joints, as shown in Fig. 8.

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