How To Build An Exterior Wall On Concrete Slab

With simple materials and readily available tools the novice carpenter can lay out build and anchor walls on concrete slabs.

How to build an exterior wall on concrete slab.

The bulk of the work for a new slab is in the excavation and form building. Run a chalk snap line between the marks and snap the line against the slab to lay out the position of one of the wall s sides. Cut pressure treated 2 x 4 boards to length and lay them along the chalk line. To lay new concrete sweep and clean the old concrete and saturate the old concrete with water.

Make sure the braces are level and lay down a barrier of wire mesh over the existing concrete inside of the barrier. This prevents water from leaking under the bottom of the wall to the inside of the building. How to pour a concrete slab. Your local building code may call for the wall to be anchored to the slab with threaded rods.

These lintels are available in lengths up to 10 ft. If this is the case drill through the curb and into the slab with a roto hammer every few feet. Walls are built from the ground up. Repeat at the other end of the board.

If you have to level a sloped site or bring in a lot of fill hire an excavator for a day to help prepare the site. Use a hammer drill with 3 16 masonry bit to drill a hole through the wood and into the concrete floor. Width will work with a 2 4 wall on top. Then figure on spending a day building the forms and another pouring the slab.

Exterior wall on slab must be out on the edge. An exterior wall must be placed on the outside edge of the slab so the exterior siding laps down and over the edge of the slab. Step 1 stretch a tape measure across the concrete slab and mark the position of the wall s ends. Then build a perimeter or a wood brace that is the same height as you want the concrete to be.

Learn how to build a low wall from concrete breezeblocks.