Second Floor Framing

Framing continued apace, with the majority of the second level finished. Framing on the roof was started, and the main structure is now visible.



With the second floor in-place, the extra supports on the main floor have been cleared out. We captured a panorama of nearly the entire floor.



The video shows one of the upper walls literally popping into place. We had a chance to observe the framers put up the north wall upstairs. They build the entire wall flat, including the plywood sheathing, and then use jacks that attach to a beam (I think a 2x4) to lever the wall into place. Then it is quickly given a few nails on either end to keep it standing while they get everything squared away with sledgehammers (probably a rubber head). The majority of the framing has been done by just three guys (I'm assuming there were a few extra helping to deliver the largest beams).



Next week should see more framing. The garage is the main thing we we're excited to see next, but it might be slightly delayed due to some changes to the roof connecting the garage side entry to the main house entry.

Framing Continues

[This is a bit late; the post is talking about the last week of 2011, from Christmas to the New Year.]

Framing continued this week, with various pieces getting some attention. The main floor framing was finished, including the brow above the entry way. The garage floor was framed, with sturdy boards laid down for the floor. Some big beams were delivered to provide the ceiling of the main floor, and support the second floor. This includes a large metal beam that runs over the dining room to the pillar at the stairs.



The upper level had floor enough to walk on, and to see the beginning of the rooms up there. I captured a panorama of what will (roughly) be the view from our bedroom.



There was also a bit of work done on the backyard to level it out, and integrate it with the slope of the neighbor's lot.

The camera got knocked around a bit this week; plus the holidays resulted in less work than normal.



Below is the full month summary. There were a lot of changes in December! It started out as bare foundation walls, and ended up with most of the main level fully framed. It will be exciting to see what January brings!

Main Floor Framing

This week there was a lot of progress on framing. The lower level was finished, and the majority of the main floor was framed. The footings for the back deck were dug out and poured. This was exciting to see. It is the first time we were able to walk around in a full-scale version of the plans we've been working on for so long.

I took a few pictures of the in-progress work on Tuesday, and then more pictures over the weekend. I also added descriptions to all the pictures, since it can be confusing trying to figure out what is what when only the framing is in place.



The video only shows part of the work, since the exterior sheathing blocked some of the later work.



This week the crew will start framing the upper floor, with the roof scheduled for a week or so after that.

Framing

This was an exciting week, as it saw the start of framing! A little bit of backfill was done at the beginning of the week. After that, framing started strong. They put together a good portion of the lower floor, including the media room and storage/future bathroom. There is also the first of the trusses that will support the main floor.



In the video, you can see how all of that framing work only took three days. The form of the house will be appearing very soon!



Next week the framing will continue.

Backfill

Last week was quiet. The crew completed footing drains and put up some waterproofing on the foundation walls. At the end of the week, they started back-filling the foundation -- our camera was moved so that the big pile of dirt could be used to fill in around the foundation.



For now, the camera is up at the top of the site, pointed towards the lower portion. We'll probably move it to a better position once the dirt-moving is done.



Next week should see a bit more backfill, and then framing will start!

Footing Drains

This week wasn't as interesting to observe, but the work was still important. The construction crew added footing drains to keep the foundation dry. In the pictures, you can see the white pipes running alongside the footings. The bit of netting and rocks shows a typical installation above the pipe, and will be extended to the other drains. There is one set of footing drains inside the foundation, just to be extra-sure that the rare case of water flowing sideways under the upper part of the foundation doesn't cause any problems, either.



For some reason our camera didn't capture the second half of the week. Since there wasn't much of interest in that video, I'm only publishing it as part of the November video. The monthly video is very neat, because it shows the foundation work from building the footing forms, up through the completion of the foundation walls.



Next week will be more drains, waterproofing the concrete, and backfill.

Foundation Complete

The main parts of the foundation of our house are finally complete. The walls were poured on Wednesday so they had a chance to cure over the Thanksgiving holiday (very clever timing!). On Friday, the forms were stripped.

The bare concrete walls look cleaner and more structured than the forms did. The pillars supporting the garage are also visible in the upper portion.



The camera was much more stable this week, despite the winds and stormy weather we had before Thanksgiving. I think it helped that someone used some of the black tarp to secure the rebar post against a wooden stake.



While the main work of constructing the foundations is complete, they are not yet done. Next on the schedule are hooking up utilities and running them through the foundation, and putting in drains tied to the storm sewer around the footings.