Year 3 Day 135 – “Living the Dream”. Thursday, 9/14/2023. Clifty Hill 2 – Framing day 26. let’s talk about Headers today. Every window and door in a house have a header. A header is a strong beam that horizontally spans the top of a window or doorway. It is the structural element that allows the space below to be open, not closed. Since windows and doors cannot support weight other than their own, the weight of above these opening must be collected and redistributed to adjacent studs. Without headers of the proper size, your walls could sag, sheetrock crack, and windows and doors not open. Window headers support the roof and other structure above a window. The depth of the header is determined by considering the weight from the structure above and the width of the opening. Headers, king studs and trimmers act as a system that transfers weight from above, down and around the window and door openings to the floor and foundation below. The window header is the horizontal piece at the top of the window frame that takes the load from the shortened studs above it, which are known as the cripple studs. The pieces on either end and perpendicular to the header are called the trimmers. In order to build and install headers you will need: an Air compressor, Air hose, Circular saw, Extension cord, Extension ladder, Framing square, Hammer, Level, Miter saw, Reciprocating saw, Safety glasses, Sawhorses, Tape measure, Carpenter’s pencil, wall jack, and galvanized nails. Steve always uses two 2×10’s for headers. Unless it is a really long span then he will use two 2×12’s. This house has all 2×10’s for headers. He only used 2×12’s for the girder. Okay enough about Headers already. Our morning started with heading to Walgreens for our second pneumonia vaccine. Even though we had appointments we didn’t get the vaccine since the refrigeration system went down at the local Walgreens and there were no vaccines available. We decided to return a lot of extra lumber to Lumber King and then Steve worked on backfilling the house while I went to Lowes and placed our window and door order.
The farm workers continued gathering the corn silage.
A few different things to ponder today.
Today’s product recommendations are for tools needed to put up window and door headers. Click on the links or one the pictures below. Either one will work. The first item is a wall jack. You can easily put up your headers with this. Here’s the link: https://amzn.to/3Lt6B3s and utube video of Steve using it: https://youtu.be/X10tCuBbsx8?si=j5nkRS8N2y0MlmzZ The second item is a framing nail gun. Steve uses Bostich. Here’s a link to one: https://amzn.to/3PpBGX0 Third item is a good 16-ounce hammer with a straight claw and a rubber grip. The straight claw is very useful for if you are sliding down the roof. You can use that claw. Just slam it into the roof to catch yourself. Believe me Steve knows how to do that from experience. He wouldn’t use anything other than a straight claw. Also make sure your hammer has a rubber grip. You will appreciate it after a full day of hammering your hand will be hurting without that rubber shock absorbing grip. Here’s the link: https://amzn.to/48ios76 The fourth item is an air compressor to run that nail gun. Steve has a Dewalt. Here’s a link: https://amzn.to/3EG9Oc7 To get that nail gun and compressor hooked up you need an air hose. 100 feet works great. Here’s a link: https://amzn.to/3sPicn2
To view the complete daily diary, click here – This starts at Year 1 Day 1: Living the Dream – Deestimes – Make every step of the journey count