Frame Inspection and Mods

Spring is here and the redbuds, pear trees and chickweed are starting to bloom.
This goose seemed confused on whether he was done flying home or not.


Well we got our frame inspection, and as predicted we got a "red tag" on the first go. The plan is basically to get the inspector out to have a look, assuming that he will find something, and then get a list of things to fix and act on them. Sometimes the lists can be long, but ours was not too bad. Yes of course we got a red tag the first time!


The good news is we only had to fix three things:
1) Remove insulation around fireplace flue vent to comply with fire safety regs.
2) Secure green baseboard splices on exterior frame walls with bolts within 12" of the splice joints.
3) Improve clearance around staircase (to bonus room) so that there is at least 6'8" or headroom at the top and bottom of the stairs (and all the way up).

The bad news: the staircase clearance issue required remodeling so we had to get the framers out to re-do the top of the stairs to the bonus room as the slope of the roof prevented us from getting clearance the way the stairs ran.
The solution: turn the top three steps 90 degress to the right at the top of the staircase to make them end towards the middle of the bonus room where there is more headroom.

Pics after remodeling:
end of stairs cut into middle part of room (before rail):

After railing added:

View from stairs:


Issue #1 above was fixed very quickly by trimming the attic insulation near the stovepipe.
Issue #2 was solved by retrofitting bolts to the baseboards (drilled into the foundation) everywhere there was a splice in the green baseboards on the outside framed walls.
Example:


Another thing that happened early in the week was the delivery of all of the drywall for the house! They stacked it up in just about every room. I wish I was there to see it delivered, I hear they have a fancy way to get these heavy pieces off the truck.




Now that we are getting ready to pass inspection, we need to prepare for the insulation crew to finish foaming all of the exterior walls. Some of the walls that look like interior walls will be open to the air and are actually considered exterior. Examples of this include the walls shared with the garage, and the closets containing the geothermal plumbing, as they have doors that open to the exterior. So to be able to spray these with foam as exterior walls, they have to have drywall installed to back the foam.
While the framers were there, they did this rough drywalling, among several other things.
garage drywall:

closeup of new staircase remodel from below:

apparently the framers got bored and kicked a dirty soccer ball against the wall:

and got really bored and drew this fabulous drawing:

Baby Got Back!
So there you have it. Now we just wait on final inspection to pass and we're ready for foam and drywall.

Study in Framing

This post is mostly pictures. Over the last week or so framing has progressed rapidly (everyone who has been through it pretty much agrees this phase is one of the fastest and most noticeable in building). The following pics show just how far they can progress in one week.
Early in the week (from 12/31/07):



Front of house 12/31:

Front of house today 1/3/08:

The cathedral ceiling is now fully connected to the rest of the roof (and there's a guy up there):

Southwest corner of house, where the garage/bonus room is; and a pic of the ladies in the driveway:


The back patio of the house, where now one can see it will be a covered patio with a tall (13') ceiling:

We happened to be there when they raised the north wall of the shop. They built the frame on the ground and then several guys lifted it into place (holes in the baseboards lined up with threaded steel protruding from the stem wall). These guys held it in place until temporary lateral supports could be nailed into place.


Overall pic of shop and house so far:


So we should be ready for roofing (plywood/shingles) and gables soon!

Cathedral Framing

Today the framing crew was out for lunch when we walked up to the house but it was obvious what they had been working on. The family room/kitchen area has a cathedral ceiling that goes the length of the room. In the previous blog update you can see this room has no ceiling at all, with a roof wide open as you look from the kitchen towards the fireplace.

Today was quite different, with support scaffolding in place and most of the initial framing for the ceiling done.

The framers build lots of little structures to help them climb to the roof or stand while the boards are being nailed down. I hopped onto one of these about four feet off the ground and took a shot of the ceiling in progress and down at the great room.



Of course Vivi wanted to get up on the rail so I put her up there and took a pic. She really was careful about not moving even though she was not up too high. Good girl!

Merry Christmas!

No work has been going on the past few days because of the holidays but we also haven't been able to get many pics until Monday. Plus a little snowstorm Saturday before Christmas made things interesting. So here are some pics taken Christmas Eve. Keep in mind all of this was done in one week!

Front corner of house, you can see the garage door and the beginnings of the rafters for the bonus room above the garage:

View out of the master bedroom (braces are still in place to keep the walls stable since the ceilings are not done):

View out of study/office to the West and North:

View of back patio doors and windows from front door:


View of family room from kitchen area (this will have cathedral ceiling so there's a lot more roofing coming here):


Finally a view of the rear SE corner of the house. The window on the corner is Vivi's room and the area with all of the wood support beams is the screen porch!

Framed!!

Ian is in Austin this week, so welcome back to the somewhat goofy, definitely non-technical, but really excited posts written by Angel...

Today Viv and I took a nature walk through the woods to our new house and when we got there we had WALLS. Sort-of. Basically some boards pointing in a vertical direction, but still, it's starting to look more like a house. How cool!

Here's a view of the front of the house...



And here's another view from the driveway, looking into the garage...



Viv was really excited to finally get to stand in her own room. A few minutes later she went in her new bathroom and took an invisible bath and brushed her teeth at the invisible sink.

Viv in her room...



Two more... looking from the laundry room (approx.) to Ian's office, and a view out of Ian's office window...





That's it for today... more pictures of framing tomorrow... Ian is bummed that he's missing out, so I've got to post lots-o-pictures!

Pardon the Interruption, it's the Ice Follies

Well, what the news channels are affectionately calling "Ice Storm 2007" has hit Oklahoma. Which means we stayed inside for a week while the world around us froze and of course nothing got done on the house.

Except...brave truck drivers (presumably with guiding reindeer) who delivered framing materials at some point during the early part of the week (ho ho ho!).

No one is building on the house this week but we are ready to go when the weather cooperates! We drove over to check things out...everything coated with ice




Besides pure sleet and ice, a lot of water came down as straight up rain and the ground got really muddy. Which the truck drivers who dropped off the wood probably found out quickly (check out the ruts in the mud)



Bring on the sun, the wood is ready for framing!



Checking out the slab and mud and large puddles



Viv says "Hi!" and can't wait to jump in her next puddle:



More updates later when we thaw out!