Happy New Year!

First Floor Framing

With the Christmas and New Year season being so busy, it's been a while since I've updated the blog ... progress slowed a bit over the past three weeks as the trades people took time off to spend with their families but the guys have been back at it and our house is starting to take shape. 

My last post ended with the framing just being started... it's suprising how fast the framing goes up.  After the basement ceiling (main level subfloor) and the basement walls were finished the surrounding porch and deck went up next.  The porch is about six feet wide and the deck is 18' wide so there was a bit of work involved with all the studs and cross braces, the deck will eventually be covered in concrete with a small stone aggregate surface. 

Rear of House With Fireplace Framed

The framing for the main and upper level went up very quickly and we were finally able to get a feel for the floorplan.  At this stage the rooms felt smaller than we expected but we were happy with the layout of the house and how the rooms transitioned into each other. 

The trusses arrived a few days before Christmas and the guys were able to get most of them positioned before they left for the holidays.  We knew the house was going to have a vertical appearance but when we stood in the driveway we were suprised at just how tall it actually was and this was before the 8' cap trusses had been installed.  Regardless, of our first impression we were happy with the overall appearance and satisfied that it was shaping up how we had hoped for. 

Looking Into Kitchen From Living Room

The week after Christmas,  Jordan and his crew were back at work, finishing-up the positioning of the trusses and framing the roof overhangs.  The deck had originally appeared massive and I took some ribbing because I had actually wanted to make it deeper, but after the trusses for the roof overhang had been installed and covered in sheathing, it brought the depth of the deck into proportion.  Margaret and I were both delighted with the roof-overhang and the amount of covered space it provided and it should provide a good lookout for Trouble to keep an eye out for marauding deer and bears.  After the walls and roof had all been sheathed, the rooms started feeling a bit larger than our first impression and we were able to get a feel for a few framing changes we wanted to make. 

Living Room, Woodburning Fireplace Wall

The weather here has been all over the map, we've had snow and rain and warm and freezing temperatures all within a week.  While alot of the snow was washed away, the clouds cleared and the temperature dropped to about -6 degrees which froze all the water on the floors inside the house.  Shortly after, we had a couple more small snowfalls which we knew was going to prevent the roofers from getting started. 

For the past couple of days we've had heavy rain which has cleared the snow from the roof but filled the house with water again.  A large crew of roofers are scheduled to arrive sunday and should be able to finish the roof in a single day... we are keeping our fingers crossed because the weather man is calling for possible snow tomorrow.  We'd really like to get the roof on and get the interior of the house dried out. 

Master Bedroom, (future french doors)

We were a bit concerned about what the pooling water's affect will be on the sub-floor but Dan explained when the roof is on and the interior is dried out, they'll use an industrial floor sander to sand everything smooth and then screw the floor down to reinforce the nails currently holding it.  Winter really isn't a great time to be building but it's comforting to know our builder has a plan to deal with any potential problems that may occur because of the elements.

The trusses are pre-built, loaded on a crane truck and delivered to the site.  The crane raises bundles of trusses into place where they are temporarily braced and later spread into place.  The whole process of unloading the trusses and positioning them took about six hours.  The only problem encountered was trying to position the trusses for the master-bedroom... the crane didn't have a long enough reach to get them clear across the house to the left side.  While the trusses were suspended 30' in the air, skids made from 16' 2 x4 s were positioned so that the trusses could be slid down the left side of the house.