How To Square A Shed Wall or Shed Floor Framing

How To Make A Framed Wall for your Backyard Storage Shed, Framed Floor, Patio, Foundation Or Anything Else Square

One of the most important steps to building a shed wall or shed floor is making sure it is perfectly square so that when you are done all of the other framing that connects to the wall will fit nicely. Anything else that attaches to or joins to the wall will also be affected by a wall that is not square. You will have problems when finishing the inside of the garden shed with cabinets, trim work, drywall and flooring if you don't take time to square the wall before it is finished.

These instructions assume that the wall that you are squaring is laying down on a flat surface.

This article teaches you how to square a shed wall using a tape measure without any serious math skills other than being able to read the tape measure. So keep reading and learn how to square a wall!

brief steps to squaring a wall for your backyard storage shed

1. Check The Wall Lengths
2. Nail One Of The Wall Edges To The Floor
3. Measure The Diagonals
4. Make The Wall Diagonal Dimensions The Same
5. The Math Behind Squaring A Wall

• Tape Measure
• Wall that you have framed

step 1 Check The Wall Lengths

The first step in learning how to square a wall is to make sure the outer edges of your shed wall are all the exact same length as its opposing edge. In this image wall A should be the same length as Wall C. Wall B the same length as Wall D. It is impossible to square the exterior walls if the edge lenghths are not equal.

step 2 Nail One Of The Wall Edges To The Floor

One of the wall edges must be fixed so it stays in the same place as you move the other edges until you have a square wall. Install one 8d nail on each end of one of the edges to nail the edge to the shed floor.

step 3 Measure The Diagonals

Place the tape measure diagonally across the wall and check the dimension of the diagonal across the wall and take note of the dimension. Then Check the other diagonal dimension. Compare the two dimensions, one is usually longer than the other. This means the wall is out of square.

step 4 Make The Wall Diagonal Dimensions The Same

Now move the wall edge that is opposite the one that is nailed down back and forth until the crossing dimensions are the same. You now have perfectly squared walls! Nail the moveable edge to the floor and then sheet the shed wall so it stays square.

step 5 The Math Behind Squaring A Wall

When figuring out how to square a wall you are simply making a right triangle. The mathmatical formula for a right triangle is A squared + B squared is equal to C squared where A, B and C are legs of the triangle. This formula that is used a lot in construction and is called the Pythagorean Theorem.

• How To Frame An Exterior Wall
• How To Build A Shed