JB, the lumber for my house has been delivered. I'm sure glad that we have a big lot. There isn't a square foot on the front or side of our house that doesn't have lumber on it now. Now we are really hoping for a few nice days in a row for them to start framing.
Framing started today! It’s a beautiful Saturday morning, and we are on our way to New York Tech for the weekend. On a whim, I decided to stop by our house on the way out of town. They all send you there love. And we all hope you will come over and see the new house!
Sure enough, the workers are here, and most of the floor joists are in place already.These 8 guys really work quickly, much more efficient than our Habitat for Humanity team. We were fortunate enough to have the opportunity to watch the first wall go up. Sure looks easy when you have the air powered nailers. and its up (just watch your fingers!).
The first floor is done (framed at least), and there are several walls up on the second floor now. The two story family room looks really impressive now. It's a shame we missed those walls going up. They must be at least 18 feet tall! We're a little perplexed however with two additional windows which seem to have appeared in our living room.
The side wall of the house is supposed to have 2 windows at the second floor level, and none on the first floor. Looking at what's built however, we have an additional 2 windows on the first floor(on the side of the house, first floor). That'll be an interesting question to ask about. We like the additional light that they let into the living room, and since our house is at an angle to our neighbor's, the view is good too. The only down side is that a long couch might not fit now. Hmmm.
Both the first and second floors are framed now! There is plywood down on the floors on both levels, and it looks like the walls are all there as well. All that is missing now is a staircase to the second floor. Well, the staircase and a few little things like windows, doors, carpet, sheetrock, plumbing, electricity, paint, lights, phone, .....
Watching a house being built can be a very deceiving experience.
If framing goes this fast, surely the house will be done before.
We've had great weather all week which has really helped the framers out a lot. A few more nice days and we can get our house under roof without the plywood getting wet.
It truly is remarkable, how fast they work. The roof is completely on the house now. This isn't a factory pre-assembled roof truss system either. The same 8 guys took a large pile of 2x8's and LVL (Laminated Veneer Lumber, an engineered wood product) and built a complete roof on the house. The roof is fully sheathed and covered in tarpaper now. We climbed up a wall to get to the second floor and walk around.
The house has really taken shape now that the walls are up (and covered in OSB sheathing) and the roof is on. There are holes cut in the siding for all but one of the windows, and you can see where all the doors are. We played a quick game of "hey look at me, I'm walking through walls". Can you hear mom saying, "it's all fun and games until someone walks through a wall without a floor on the other side."
All the windows and doors have been put in their respective places. All except the one window which hasn't been cut in yet, and the two windows which are "extra", and they don't have actual windows for yet. The one window which hasn't been cut in yet is waiting on the staircase to be built. It is to be at the landing where the stairs turn, so it makes sense to find out where the landing will be before they frame the window.
