Ranch homes are one-story buildings that provide homeowners with many benefits. However, if you want to add a new story to this type of home, you're going to need a broad array of tools to ensure you do everything properly. One of the most important you can buy is an edge finding tool.
Adding A New Story Will Be Harder Than Most Realize
When you want to add a second story to a ranch home, you need to take into account a variety of factors. For example, you need to make sure that the weight balance of the new story isn't going to be too much for your home. This typically requires a variety of tests that ensure the walls and foundation can withstand this type of pressure.
Just as importantly, you need to ensure that you are building all of your new walls and floors on the studs of the home. The studs in a home are the vertical and horizontal two-by-four boards that provide strength and stability to the house. Without these studs, your home is likely to experience a lot of strain and difficult when you add a new story.
The worst situation likely to occur if you don't build off of your studs is poor weight distribution. For example, trying to hang drywall without studs will cause it to crack. This damage may cause other problems that quickly spread through a house. Thankfully, edge finding tools can make it easier for you to find a home's studs and avoid this problem completely.
How Edge Finding Tools Help
Edge finding tools are simple electronic hand-held devices that you run against a wall to locate the stud. They will emit a beep when the edge of a board is found – hence their name. Once you find all of the studs in the walls of your ranch house, you can mark them down to ensure you build off of them. As a result, you can increase the strength of the walls and floors in your second story and ensure that your weight distribution is more even and that your second story is safe.
So if you are adding a second story to a ranch home and want to make sure that everything goes smoothly, don't hesitate to buy an edge finding tool. These items can provide you with the help that you need to ensure that your home is built quickly and efficiently. Contact a company, like SDA Manufacturing LLC, for more help.