How to Frame an Outside Wall

Start by marking the wall location on the slab or subfloor of the house. Snap a chalk line to show where the wall is to go and mark the inside line for the bottom plate. Lay out two-by-fours for top and bottom wall plates; place them side by side with their 4-inch faces up to mark the location for all vertical studs. Frame a wall on the foundation slab or subfloor or some similar flat surface.

Mark the first stud at the back end of the wall 1 1/2 inches in from the end of the plates. Use a marker and framing square to draw a 90-degree line across both plates. Use the 1 1/2-inch-wide tongue of the square to make the inside line for that stud 1 1/2 inches in; all studs will be 1 1/2 inches wide and should come from the lumber supplier to conform for 8-foot ceilings.

Measure 15 1/4 inches from the end of the plates and mark the outside of the second stud. Mark another 1 1/2-inch opening. Measure 16 inches from that line and mark another stud. Then measure and mark1 1/2-inch spaces every 16 inches the length of the wall. Follow the wall plan to allow for door and window openings.

Nail the end studs in place first, with two nails through top and bottom plates on each stud end. Square those studs with the framing square, but square the entire wall by measuring corner to corner and adjusting until the diagonals are the same. Add internal studs, nailed through both top and bottom plates at the marked locations.

Frame door and window openings with headers, footers and trimmer studs. Install headers, usually 2-by-6-inch boards, horizontally at the top of a door or window opening, nailed between full studs on either side. Use the dimensions from a wall plan to space these studs. Place a similar footer board at the bottom of a window opening. Make shorter "trimmer" studs to go between the bottom of the`header and the bottom plate or window footer.

Install short studs, at 16-inch spaces, between the top of the header and the top wall plate and between the window footer and the bottom wall plate. Nail trimmer studs to the full studs on the side; toenail short top and bottom studs, with framing nails driven diagonally through the studs into the headers or footers.