Monday
What a great week of weather and progress for building the new home! The first start of work on the land was back on June 14. On August 14th the slab was finally poured and finished. So we started 4 days later to frame the house. On Monday, August 17th they begin to snap chalk lines over the slab, everywhere there will be a wall. They write notes on the slab showing where the door openings will be, as well as windows. It was great being out at the site for questions. This is a good idea for anyone building a home to be present now. The crews are busy, lots of homes and construction drawings to work on. So they appreciate a quick answer when they have questions. Even though they have the construction drawings with dimensions, this is not an exact science. The plumbing rough in could be off a bit, or the slab is shorter or longer in some areas. One really doesn't know, until each trade comes in after the other. So I totally recommend being there. But bring a good book to read. They don't have a question for you every minute, and it's pretty important to keep out of the way, until they need to ask you a specific question. Let them do their job. If you've done your homework in the beginning, you already know you have a competent builder and crew. I know that I do!
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| Close up of snapped chalk lines for location of sill plates. |
The whole day was spent on marking the locations of all the walls, inspecting the lumber delivered, cutting and assembling the header boxes(placed over the windows for 2 x 6 construction, and laying out the lumber in prearranged stacks, that only the framers know the rhyme and reason to. Our builder brought his earth moving equipment to clean up the dirt in the front under the future porch. He also had to move dirt around to dry up the low spots still filled with water from the sprinklers that were used four days ago. It didn't evaporate in the heat. The framers need dry land to work with around this slab.Tuesday
By 10 AM they already have the most of the bottom plates cut and anchored to the slab. The boards of a lighter color are those that are being cut to match the length of the base lumber and will be used for the top plate. The ceiling height for the entire first floor will be 10 feet.
At 1:30 PM afternoon our first wall goes up!! The front wall, which will house the front door and 4 large windows.Because all the work was done on the slab before lifting the wall upright. The whole process of putting up the first wall from first lift to anchoring the sides onto the bottom plate...took 5 minutes!
Unlike Monday, when there were just 3 men onsite. Today, we have 8 men on the framing crew. Let me tell you, this was a happy sight to see the first wall go up. I did my happy dance, gave the men a huge smile waving my two thumbs up with a "yeeha! |
| First wall UP! The day is coming to a close. But I can see real progress! |
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| More walls go up. This is the 2 car garage. |
The men are called over to lift another wall. This time they stand patiently waiting on their foreman, who is making adjustments and cutting the top sill plate before the wall can be moved into position.
Then the call comes for all hands on deck. It's quick work for this framing crew. Today there are 14 men on the crew.The side wall of the garage is now up. The garage will house 2 cars, a workshop, storage room, and unheated 1/2 bath.
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| He moves with purpose and precision. |
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| Checking that the window opening is square. |
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| Front window precisely measured and sheathed. |
I observed while being on the job site that only the outside vertical studs are generally nailed to the base and top plates. The rest of the 2 x 6 studs are only anchored to the top plate and left swinging freely at the bottom. This allows this man, for one, to address each stud, specifically around door openings and window openings to be scrutinized individually so that the doors and windows that have been ordered will fit perfectly in the space. They have the measurements of the windows and doors that are due to arrive on the site when they are ready for them, but they need to be installed into openings that are square. Taking the time to do this BEFORE the products arrive to the job site will save lots of time....and in this profession TIME = MONEY.
Wrap is added to the exterior walls at the bottom, before the sheathing material is installed..
Before school starts a youngster, helps with cleanup around the property, using the wagon I brought on site,once in awhile assisting with nail removal.
They begin to lift......and carry......
Thursday
Framers need more material and footings need to be erected before the framers can continue. Today is a day to review the work with our builder.. He does a walk through, while I review the billings that I need to write a check for. Yes, one does have to pay for all this excellent work. Having a builder oversee this home is really what I wanted. I did the design and drawings. But after working for an architect back in New Jersey, even I know, that what is designed on paper doesn't always translate well on the actual job site... That's why I strongly recommend finding a reputable builder that can oversee the project and give advice when changes occur....because there will always be something that needs to be dealt with that is unexpected. So far, the walk through looks good. Nothing that I can see, but only a trained eye from a person like my builder would see. I spend the afternoon focused on lighting choices.. Before you know it they will need to know where all the wiring needs to go.
Friday
The mason arrives in the afternoon. Waiting on block and cement they were unable to get an earlier start. This will have a ripple effect, since the framers will now not be able to return on Saturday to continue the framing. This is a decision made by our builder. He feels it is important that the cement has time to set up BEFORE framing the porch. |
| Leveling at each layer is important. |
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| Locating each footing as it relates to the front wall is critical. |
It can not be overstated, just how important when these parts of the design are being installed, it's always good to be present to field questions and verify, verify, verify that components are where they need to be. This is the time to make adjustments if necessary. Waiting til the framers find it AFTER the lumber is all cut to size is a costly response. I am very fortunate that so far every person involved with this project is grateful to have questions brought up and resolved before later. We are still LIVE so let's see how this plays out.
Wow! I'm impressed. Lisa you could do this as a profession. Thanks for including us
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