How to Raise a Wall By Yourself

Learn how to use wall jacks and plan ahead. Pay attention and keeps risks to a minimum.
...and don't fall off a ladder! Watch this: • How to Not Fall Off A ...
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[@JayKayKay7]

"Sometimes Sketchy is the way to go!" Words to live by,

[@Guyman-sq2bt]

I loved that part too

[@jamesb95]

Me too! You beat me to the comment. It is the truth though.

[@adamschaeffer4057]

Also words many have died by. Choose wisely.

[@aerialrescuesolutions3277]

@@adamschaeffer4057 Yes, sketchy can mean certain disaster

[@Lappmogel]

4:50 if you don't want to drill in the slab you can just use strap to secure the base of the jack to the base of the wall.

[@rjk7104]

And run a screw with a fender washer through the strap so it can't slip up.

[@dredhead117]

"nobody likes to work with me so I've gotta work by myself" you and me both, Scott

[@jeffstokes8960]

back in early 80s I bought Proctor wall jacks...aluminum two piece pipe with comealong mounted on them...I built lots of houses with walls papered.. t 1-11 plywooded. aluminum windows installed 1x4 trim..stained and lifted..all by myself..this is on a downslope with 16' of underpinning..no scaffold at all...great fun...not fancy by today standards but thats how it was done.with creative rigging could lift garage door headers also...the two jacks are still in the rafters of the shop i think..

[@GRUBB-MUDD]

Damn my dad has 4 years on yurs

[@Jaronius]

I had an idea, long ago, to build a tool rental business catering to the solo worker. I was going to call it "Loaner".

[@FullCircleTravis]

That's pretty good. I'm always building alone. Most of the time, help isn't help.

[@foggynight]

​@@FullCircleTravis yessur help means chat around here lol

[@johnparinellojr.2035]

You should consider writing a book. Just from your U tube channel alone you’ve told us about your time as a logger, carpenter, blacksmith; I’ve even seen you lay block and pore concrete. You’re the quintessential American that’s becoming scarce these days. Im glad I get to watch and learn new things from you. Thank you for sharing.

[@Jon-l7q4e]

Make sure you check the release before you start raising the wall up high. I got a defective one before and luckily I checked because it just dropped and if it’s above your head and for whatever reason you have to lower the wall you can only imagine how bad that would be.

[@a-carpenter9229]

I think I'd prefer to spend the $2400 on two wall lift jacks that work with built in winches and two can be controlled at the same time with one remote control so you can stand back out of harm's way. They also have hooks at the top of them to catch the wall when it's all the way up. $2400 wouldn't go far in hospital bills if a wall fell on you

[@Dennis-uc2gm]

I'm right there with you on doing it by your self. My schedule usually never fits any possible help or I just prefer to do it alone. Yeah I've done stuff that was sketchy at best, but always try to add the safety aspect to the work being done. I've use Hijacks for different things, but never came across a wall jack. Thanks for the video. 👍

[@diverdave4056]

OR just build a smaller sections of the wall and you won't need a crew to help you raise it up !

[@Hoaxer51]

You can use them to lift garage door headers by yourself too, or any kind of structural beams.

[@waltercrowe4932]

I would work with you!!

[@superspeeder]

BUY THE HINGE BASES that go along with these!!! They fasten the 2x4 to the floor and the hinge, then you put a lag into the 2x4 up top, AND you use the wire harness/plates to attach the top plate, now when the wind grabs your FULLY SHEATHED wall it doesn’t pull you off the second floor with it! I’m building my first house ever and I’m doing it by myself, including standing 40’ walls alone. Setting up my Qual-Craft wall jacks as described above takes a DANGEROUS (not sketchy) part of the job and turns it into a slightly sketchy job. I still had a few “high pucker-factor” moments, but I got it done without thinking I might not make it home safely. Wall jacks are an incredibly useful and enabling tool. DON’T be cheap - buy the accessories and use them properly. Stay safe everyone!!!

[@robertroberts6597]

I have been using this very type of wall jack since I turned 75 several years ago. They are amazing. They take the licking and I keep on ticking. Best of luck,

[@fsj197811]

Very nice, thanks for sharing.

[@trollmcclure1884]

it's not 2x4 when it's not 2x4

[@pcInCA]

They can slide sideways too. I screw blocks of 2x4 into the wall to guide the top.

[@jamesb95]

Thank you so much for these videos. I love them. I’m 50. Been working an office job for 28 years and dream everyday of building my own house. My plan is to quit in 2 years and follow my dream. Already have the lot on the north coast of CA in Mendocino county and just submitted my coastal development permit.

[@Stevos_HookedonRods4844]

Love this channel, Thanks Scott Everyday is a school day, always learning something Cheers from Oz

[@johnduffy6546]

I did smile at your admonition of, "do pay attention"...OMG, this is soo lost in today's workforce. I don't mean to sound negative but, so many folks in the workforce today, don't possess the common sense to put their arse out if it were to catch fire...Ohh.. there's an app for that? Dang..I need to download that sucker!..Thank you for all your quality videos. I am your age and I can truly relate... Gravity ALWAYS wins...I have the merit badge;

[@schwinn434]

Very informative general contract knowledge; Thank you Essential Craftsman, as always well done.

[@ryanwilson5222]

Mr. W, I would work with you in any industry any day. And if you don’t know, I will. These videos you do have motivated me in the best way. To build so over code compliment even California would get ideas. Thank you for everything. Again and again.

[@patricklynch9184]

I built my house by myself with those same jacks . Life saver if you know how to prepare yourself for the inherate risk that comes along with those jacks. All my walls were 2x6 9ft tall too.

[@RedwoodGeorge]

100% - huge fan! I built a 10x12 "she-shed" entirely by myself. The only time I had help was lifting a 3x3 skylight onto the roof. Being a 'fancy' build, it had many windows and a big door, which meant lots of extra king studs and lots of heavy headers at the top of a wall, so even raising a simple 12 foot wall was quite a task for one person. That wall jack made it incredibly easy (if not a wee bit sketchy)

[@monkeyboy80]

Epic Saturday morning episode. Learned a lot! Thank you EC.

[@mikeking7470]

Not a carpenter but I watch a lot of these videos, it seems to me this is one of those cases where you want just a few light diagonal braces on your wall frame rather than fully sheathing the wall with OSB or plywood before it's raised, less weight for the jacks and less "wind load". And if you are having a bad day and the wall comes down it might be easier to extract yourself from the mess. Good video.

[@hokimocus]

I know your fishing trip to Alaska is behind you now but if your still fishing, here's a compliment, nicely done!

[@frobstube]

Wow thanks for sharing this. I wish I knew about this a year ago. I built a large bookshelf out of 2x12 dimensional lumber and realized I was too old and fat to lift it up into place fully assembled, So I finished assembly in place giving an inferior result to what I would've gotten if I put it all together on the floor first. I will happily add this to my mental tool kit for the next time I have occasion to build such an item.

[@arustydodge2111]

God Bless you SCOTT!”Still doing it” and doing it WELL!👍👍 I’m up there in digits with you, but these old knees would have had to set this demo up on a table.😉 Thanks for always making my Day!🙏😇

[@paulmeyers4080]

My wife and have built two houses all on our own from the ground up. Never had those. We just raised em up on to saw horses, took a second and went for it. All turned out well. Those sure do look hand though.🙃

[@wingman8447]

I used to frame and sheath then lift 12’ walls by myself. Now I can’t lift a sheet of sheathing. Good vid.

[@adam_clay]

It blows my mind that i have never heard of these wall jacks before. I just bought a pair from an auction a few days ago and now this very helpful video drops. Thank you.

[@tomalealso]

yup, I have used them lots of times, works pretty good with lifting a header into place too. sometimes your wall is too big to lift all at once so you break it up into 2 or more sections, once in awhile the header has to be lifted in place after the fact. I have lifted walls into place with out them and after the fact I wished I had taken the time to use the wall jacks.

[@Dave-thorfinn]

Awesome stuff...Any chance of getting a new mail room video in the near future?

[@lynntaylor6682]

You know that sometimes after the dust settles, I hear myself say..."should of thought that through a little more". Good video for those of us that work by ourselves most of the time. Thanks for all that you do Scott!

[@jethropebs]

"Sometimes, sketchy is the way to go" 😅

[@Dnps807]

"When I work alone, I prefer to work by myself"

[@gtbkts]

Thanks for the awesome content and great video!!

[@chrisclements1169]

"Nobody likes to work with me" ha ha, have same problem. Remodeling a 50s vintage grange hall into a home. I've pretty much done all the framing myself, and I'm 64, and I used wall jacks to lift a 16' x 5 1/2 x 28 or something glulam into place, all by myself. They're great.

[@mcravenplayz27]

Many single fathers need to watch this video

[@nealesmith1873]

I’ll start carrying this in my Jeep!

[@manfredvonrichthofen4738]

i rip yellow pine down to 2x4 there strong

[@gezkelly4564]

Sometimes sketchey is the way to go 😂

[@Sandramce60]

Theres other ways then this

[@artwebb6939]

Interesting device

[@AntoniGanchev]

I just bough two!

[@edmallon2851]

They are awesome

[@patrick-rt8py]

Yawn

[@Jroam04]

outlawed by OSHA am I wrong?

[@Bobo-ox7fj]

is that supposed to mean something?

[@Jroam04]

@@Bobo-ox7fj we cant use them legally anymore

[@skoomasteve6144]

Good morning from San Antonio!

[@usa5439]

SA? Me too!!

[@JaniLaaksonen91]

Good afternoon from Finland!

[@popsk4145]

Me too!

[@vincenti9580]

Goodnight, and keep up the good work. - the Philippines.

[@patcarlson1277]

" Sometimes Sketchy is the way to go " -EC .....I need that printed on a hard hat sticker.

[@badcat4707]

😹😸😹