How to fix a stud wall screw up

I'm working on a treehouse. I do not need to comply with building codes in my township because they don't recognize anything under 200sf as a structure. That said, I am attempting to make sure the structure is sound, since at 13' up, any problem is likely to injure someone.



I screwed up the stud walls in a total novice sort of way. I used full length 8' studs in the walls instead of 92 5/8" ones. So now I'm looking to attach sheathing and obviously 2 adjacent sheets aren't going to connect in the right spots. Can I get away with putting a row of sheathing at the top and one at the bottom, then covering the 3" empty space in the middle? Or do I really give up enough structural strength that I need to suck it up and saw all the studs down.

Oh, and I do plan on putting in some blocking to connect the inner edge of the sheathing.

 

Everything should be on either 16" or 24" centers. You could use fillers to make this up. Whay are you going to use for siding?

 

You would be far better off cutting the studs, and installing the sheathing before raising the walls, making sure to leave at least 3/4" overhang at the bottom of the wall so it overlaps the rim joist.
Why does you wall not come out to the end of the framing?
Why does the floor sheathing stop before the end of the wall, the wall needs to be sitting on top of the subfloor.
No header over the door.
Missing some 2 X 4's in the ends of the walls so you can tie in the outside corners.
No support under the ends of the window framing.
https://www.google.com/search?q=wind...5Ebt1-XIxLM%3A
https://www.google.com/search?q=exte...snIcnHewsFM%3A

 

Buy / use some 7/16"x4'x9' osb sheathing.

 

I would consider nailing the 4 x 9 sheathing with 8d nails @ 6" o.c.
You have a lot of openings in the wall and close nailing will stiffen it substantially.

 

Your sheathing should fully cover your rim joist too, not just your 8' studs and plates, so this is not really a problem... it's why they make 9' sheathing, just cut it to length.

 

Firstly, thank-you very much for the comments. It's helpful for someone else to point out the sorts of issues I should be thinking about.

I stopped the wall early because at some point I'm going to expand the platform around the tree and make a wrap around deck. Plus, the wall is 10' long now and I figured that was a good stopping point. (instead of 10' 8" or so)

I went back and forth on setting the wall on top of the sub-floor. I was concerned about water damage at the bottom of the walls. In the end, I decided to use treated lumber for the sole plate on the walls and then only put the untreated sub-floor inside that exterior perimeter. Had it occurred to me to simply run my sheathing down overlapping the rim joist, I definitely would have just put the floor down first and set the walls on it. Putting the walls up without a fixed floor was a little bit worry-some. Particularly with just a 12-year old as a work-mate.

That's not actually a door-frame. Just the 24" gap between studs.

I am planning to use California corners on the ends of the stud-walls. However, I have been hand nailing everything, and hanging over the edge and doing that from the outside seemed ill-advised. I'm going to be renting/borrowing a framing nailer this weekend, at which point I'll add the extra studs.

There actually is support under the very outside edges of the horizontal window sill, though it is very hard to see from this angle. However, I was going back and forth on whether or not I should put in a couple extra cripples under each window. Here is a different shot of that wall. (incomplete though)

 

I'm still torn on siding. In the end, it will probably come down to what I can get the cheapest. I've actually been considering using some Silver Maple board and batten. Mostly because I have a number of full growth maples I was planning to cut down and I think I could have them milled for $.35-$.50 per board foot.

Another option I've considered are using some 1" reclaimed yellow pine I already have as clapboard siding.

Purchasing retail siding isn't really an option right now. But if I found some on the cheap, I'd probably consider it.

 

I didn't realize 9' sheathing existed. That would solve the problem neatly wouldn't it. Does the sheathing really need to go to the bottom of the 2x10 rim joist? It is treated wood.

 

Technically, sheathing is supposed to be for wind shear. It connects everything together when it spans from top to bottom, when installed vertically. How low you go on the rim joist is up to you, but it should obviously extend below the bottom of your bottom plate if you don't want water leaking onto the floor.

IMO, 9' would be about just right. If you need to add a scrap, it would be at the bottom of the rim just to fill it out. You want sheathing everywhere siding will go. And your siding should- at a minimum- hang below the bottom plate. Depends if you want to see the beautiful treated wood or not. No idea what kind of look you are after, but I would cover it all with siding.

Also, hope the structure is not actually fastened solidly to both trees. The wind will tear it apart when both trees sway independently. You have to engineer movement into it.

 

On one end the support beams are fastened securely to one tree with movement possible only in one axis, horizontal movement towards and away from the tree.

On the other end the beams are effectively floating, and movement is permited on both the X and Y axis.

 

Glad you've got it figured out. I learned that after building my very first deer stand long long ago.

 

As a follow up question. I plan on using rafters for the roof, and using a roof pitch sufficient to allow for an attic space that could be used for a bed or lounging spot. From what I have been told, that means the ceiling joist will need to be at least a 2"x6" board. How likely am I to run into problems by not having a header over those two window openings? I still have time to pull the cap off that wall and add a header if it's likely to be an issue.