Stone Work Starts on Retaining Wall

Not much happened this week as the framers had to go help on another job. The rock work on the rear retaining wall did, however, get started on Friday. The cinder block "prison wall" is being faced with a veneer of local rock from the Hoopers Creek Quarry. We picked this particular blend of rock as it is very similar to the native rock on our site. The rock slabs are about 2 inches thick. The masons think it will take about 2 weeks to finish this wall.

Stick-Built Roof Trusses Start Going Up

The framers have started erecting the stick-built roof trusses that will be used with the parts of the house that will have cathedral ceilings. Click on photos for a larger view.
The vertical Parallam columns have been erected in the master bedroom wall to stiffen the wall and to support the weight of the roof trusses.

You can see the difference in the stick-built trusses on the left and the pre-fab trusses on the right.

Second Floor and Roof Framing

The framers have continued work on the upper floor walls and have also done some of the roof framing. Click on pictures for a larger view.

The front walls of the upper level have not been started yet as the heavy Parallam columns haven't been erected yet, but work continues on the interior walls and some of the roof.

Since the back part of this wing with the guest bedroom, bath, and laundry is the only part that will have flat ceilings (which will give us some attic storage), it's the only part of the house that gets pre-fab roof trusses - which have now been all erected.

The rest of the house will have cathedral ceilings and those roof trusses will be stick-built on-site. Here you can see the framers have already erected the scaffolding they will use to build those trusses. Work has slowed down for the Thanksgiving holiday, so we won't see much new progress until next week, but we are happy to see the house starting to take shape with a roof line.

Upper Floor Framing Underway

The framers have made quick progress on the upper floor as the framer was able to bring in his second crew to help for a couple of days. Click photos for a larger view.

This shows the wall for the kitchen (to the left) and the door that walks out onto the deck from the great room. The fireplace will be angled in on the far right.

The framers build the walls flat on the floor, then raise them as one piece. Here Cheryl stands in the future bathroom window.

View from up the slope. The great room and kitchen are to the left, and the bedroom wing to the right.

The framers are using the Zip System for the outer walls. Instead of plywood and a separate Tyvec wrap, this system uses a plywood with an integral laminated water barrier. The joints are sealed up with a rubber tape.

Subflooring Goes On

About the only new progress is the laying of the subflooring. Click on pictures for a larger view.
Most of the flooring is done. The gap in the middle is for the stairs and the other opening on the near side is for the elevator. (The cement trucks are for the new house going in across the street).

Its looking more and more like it might be a house someday. Here Norris checks out Cheryl's future studio.

Good news: The Parallam columns finally arrived, so framing can start on the upper floor now.

It doesn't have anything to do with the new house, but this was the view from our current temporary home this morning.

Floor Trusses Done

The roof trusses and lower level framing are all in place now, although some of the framing is just temporarily filling in for the Parallam columns which will arrive some time next week.

From this view, you can see the rough-in for the front doors and the two-foot cantilevered overhang for part of the second floor.

View from the driveway, looking in through the garage.

View from above shows all the trusses in place, with a gap in the middle for the stairs.

Floor Trusses Start Going Up

We stopped by at noon today to see how far the framers had gotten with the floor trusses.
They had about half the trusses nailed in place before lunch and should have finished the garage section by the end of the day.

Framing Starts on Front Wall

Now that the engineers have decided to go with the 2x8 solution to the problem of stiffening the front wall (because of all the glass), the framers have gotten started on front wall. They still have to wait for some special Paralam columns to arrive later in the week, but they are working around them for now.
Here, Norris chats with Todd, the co-owner of the framing company, about how Todd plans to insert the columns into the wall.

This is a good view from up the slope that shows the layout of the ground floor. The garage is to the right

The floor trusses have been delivered and Todd's crew will start installing the floor system as soon as the front wall is done.

View from the street, looking up the driveway.

More Framing on the Lower Level

Today we went to the house site to make firewood out of the some of the tree trunks left for us by the grading crew. We also got some pictures of the progress on the framing. Click photos for a larger view.

Norris had the easy job of running the chain saw while Cheryl had the harder job of toting the cut wood up the hill to get it out of the way of the construction crews. The wood should be well cured and ready for use by the time we move in.

The framers have almost finished doing the interior wall framing for the lower level. They can't start the front wall framing until the 2x8s and special columns needed to stiffen the front walls are delivered next week.

In this view, you can see the lower level rooms taking shape.

You can start to see some signs of a house from the street now.

Basement Framing Continues

The framers have started putting up the interior walls for the basement rooms as they can't start the front walls (the wall of glass) until the engineers deliver the plan for the steel columns that will be needed to stiffen up the wall.

They also have been able to start the garage wall and have the 24ft garage beam in place now.

Click pictures for a larger view.