blogging our home building process

Sunday, May 8, 2011

From 0 to 300 in Just One Day!!

Framing continued this week as the master bath interior walls were completed as well as the mud room.  The kitchen, dining and living areas are all open so no interior framing is needed there.  The half bath is all that is left to build on the main level but since it will be the smallest room in the house it is on the back burner.

We installed the floor trusses over the master bedroom and installed the LVL (laminated veneer lumber used for load bearing) which carries the whole open loft over the dining room.  Tuesday, of course it rained all day because there has to be at least one rain day each week.  So, Wednesday we finished the rest of the floor trusses.  Our celebrity carpenter (aka Ron who our neighbors are now cooking for) installed the temporary stairs so we could carry all the lumber upstairs. I must say carrying all the materials up a ramp and through the front door and then up a flight of stairs is less then pleasant.  (should of put a man lift in the budget and a new back!)  Saturday morning, we started installing the advantech flooring for the second story subfloor.

LVL beam
stairs to the 2nd floor
subfloor for loft above dining area

laying advantech on the 2nd story floor
view from what will be the window seat in the loft

view from the office




In addition to the framing, we marked where all 16 porch footers were going to go for the wrap-around porch in preparation for Headrick Excavating to dig them which they did on Saturday along with trenching in the water and electric lines to the back 40 where the garden and orchard are going.


markings for the porch footers

dug front porch footers (wrap around porch will be 3 sides of the house)

The biggest moment of the week for us was on Friday.  We've been staring at a 9' deep empty hole otherwise known as the garage for quite some time now!  After 13 dump trucks full of rock and a full day of moving it, the hole was finally filled with 300 TONS of stone!  The garage was then backfilled around the outside to support all that weight and is now ready for the concrete slab to get poured.  

the empty hole



finally filled to the rim


backfill around garage
It has been hard to work this week since the honeysuckle and our blackberry patch are in full bloom - the smell is awesome!!  The deer are also back; we saw 7 this week with one walking right down the driveway as we were leaving on Friday.

4 comments:

  1. hey, seen your comment on the diy facebook page and had to take a look, looks great, love all the pic's, had one question did you save any of the large timber you cut down to reuse on your house, it could of been turned in to hardwood flooring, beard board, siding, big beams, or even custom furniture, i will check back and see how she coming along, thanks Matt

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  2. we are planning on using the lumber but I am having a hard time finding a local kiln, so it may end up as all furniture after it air dries.

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  3. the views from the office and loft are wonderful!!! The wrap-around porch will need a porch swing in its future and a few pillows/cushions. :) You know, the problem with stairs is that something is always going up or down. Good luck with that!
    Kent and Jackie

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  4. thanks kent & jackie! you are totally right - we plan on screening in part of the porch so we can sleep out there weather permitting.

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