In the event that I don’t have any helpers for putting up the walls, I’m still going to do it, weather permitting. This means some creative thinking in my noodle is required to figure out how to raise, plumb, true, and square my walls onto a deck that’s 24″ off the ground, solo. I have a few ideas percolating.
For starters, the walls can definitely be built in sections. There’s no good reason my 24′ trailer can’t have 3x 8ft or maybe 4x 6ft wall sections. This simplifies the wrangling considerably. I’ve also decided not to do the entire height of the structure walls all at once. The ultimate profile of the exterior will be a rectangular box with a single pitched “shed” roof. Instead of doing a very tall (11+ ft) wall and the shorter wall all at once, I’m going to first set up the first story walls at a uniform 7 ft all around. This height puts the tops of the walls within easy reach of this 6ft-1 builder and gives me a chance to securely cross brace them against each other before getting to the complicated bits of the second story’s sloped roof. Indeed, I could even install the first course of sheathing at this stage which would add considerable strength and staying power to the system.
Then, when I go to work on the second story, I can use the existing framing as a scaffold. For the areas which will become loft spaces, I’ll just string up the joists like I was gonna and set some plywood on them to stand on for second story work. For the areas that will NOT have a loft above it, I can install a basic floor temporarily to serve as a secure scaffold to facilitate 2nd story work from the inside – no standing on a ladder!