Construction Burnout

It seems we've really slowed down in our progress. Several things at issue here. We're both a bit burned out at this point and I can't really help with the high work and so Guy is working pretty much solo. On a positive note we are still making progress.

We got a great deal on our shingles. Guy made a day trip to Napa to get the deal. Of course this means no roof top delivery but for the cost we'll manage to get them to the roof top. Even with renting a trailer and diesel for the big truck to Napa and back the savings were just too good to say no to.

We did have our first rain of the season. Yikes! Guy managed to get all the sheathing covered so there was no damage and thank goodness it was a gentle rain, not a lot of wind and no torrential downpour so we were lucky and dodged a bullet. Once the shingles are on and the roof completed we'll be taking a day or two off but we've got to get this part finished before the rains really start.

The tractor will come back sometime next week to finish all the dirt work as well. That is another major project that really just has to be complete before the rains come. Then I think we can breath a bit more relaxed.

Here are some of the latest pictures:


And of course Bogey says living in the 5th wheel is just fine:

ROOF! ROOF! ROOF!

Sometimes when you are engaging in a project such as this you just have days when it is extremely difficult to face yet another day of construction. We've literally not taken a day off in months. There have been days when we were doing things away from here but only because we needed to go purchase materials, tools, or order windows, etc. I of course take a day off now and then but rarely even leave the property these days. So before one decides to embark on an endeavor like this beware that it consumes your every moment.

The past few days have been like that for me. Of course the trusses are up and we are laying sheeting down so there is not much for me to do. I have a healthy respect (OK FEAR) of heights after a nasty fall some years ago so I just can't bring myself to climb up the trusses and then jump from truss to truss as my husband does. So for the past few days I've been of little assistance to him with the exception of handing him the occasional piece of wood or dropped tool.

So today Guy will summit the West side of the house! Of course the dogs and I are cheering him on every step and nail of the way by chanting ROOF! ROOF! ROOF! He is hoping to have all the sheeting in place and be ready for inspection by the end of the week. Once that inspection is done the shingles will go on and then we'll really have something that is beginning to look like a house! Of course I told him if he does summit today that he needs to save enough energy to make it back down to base camp because it has been getting a bit chilly overnight here.

Here are a few recent photos:

HEADERS AND TRUSSES AND JACK STUDS OH MY!

What a busy 10 days! As we were doing the demolition in the older part of the house we discovered that two of the three 2x4 walls we were going to retain needed to be replaced as well as some of the trusses and sheeting on the existing roof. Our original plan was to fur out the 2x4 walls to match the new 2x6 walls but the damage to two of those walls was too extensive and they needed to be replaced. This created yet another engineering challenge as we had to support the existing roof on two sides in a manner that would allow us to knock out two walls, put in the sub floor, build two new walls and place them. We elected to use a combination of interior and exterior supports to actually raise the height of the existing roof and build the longer of the two walls in two sections then do the second wall. The small original wall that would remain was supported in place with exterior supports. Doing all of this only added about three days to our schedule and was so worth the effort! So now all but one of the walls is new 2x6 and only one small wall will need to be furred out.

The New Walls In Place and Existing Roof Lowered back In Place And All the Headers and Trimmers In:


All of the headers, jack studs, top plate and sub floor is in and the trusses were delivered on Friday morning. The Truss company was over 2 1/2 hours late from the scheduled delivery time but we'd only planned on getting some off site business taken care of after the delivery so everything went well.

Delivery Of The New Trusses:








Tomorrow we are hoping to get all the new trusses rolled and the supports in. Once the new trusses are in we can install the new sheeting and then we'll be ready for our next inspection. Then we can put on the roof! Now that will truly be a milestone!

Of Walls and Trusses and Other Things!

WOW! What a difference a few long hot days can make. The upper level walls are up, the measurements taken for the trusses, the demolition on the older part of the house almost complete and the final, final, yes, the absolute final, decision on doors and windows made.

You know that saying about a picture being worth a thousand words?

WALLS:


DEMOLITION: Check out the creative acoustic tile ceiling insulation!

More Demolition and Progress

With the joist inspection successfully behind us things took off like a rocket. The new sub floor went down and demolition on the remaining part of the house has begun. Amazing what can happen when a sledge hammer is involved. Men can be such little boys when told to 'destroy' something. The mess is not nearly as bad this time.

Over the past year we've had many discussions regarding the old house and whether or not there was any insulation in some areas of it. I guess insulation is a relative term and depends on exactly what is meant by "insulation". If you mean some method to create a barrier so that heat is retained or barred from entering then yes, there was some insulation. There was actually some fiberglass insulation here and there in the walls and someone had creatively used old acoustic type tiles in an attempt to insulate the old roof. There was a newer roof and trusses put over the original roof some years ago and fiberglass insulation was placed over the old roof at the time but the original roof (tar and gravel) was left in place and just covered over. So, the answer to the 'big' question was depending on your perspective the house was insulated.

Today we start building the upper level walls and getting them into place while demolition continues on the old part of the house. Once the upper level walls are in measurements will be taken and the new roof trusses ordered! Getting a roof on the place will certainly be a milestone!

Some pictures of the continuing demolition:

First Floor Progress

The first floor walls are complete, the headers are in and the floor joists are finished. An inspection today should clear the way for us to lay the sub-floor and then we can begin working on the 2nd floor walls, headers, etc. One of the grandsons has been visiting for the past week so I've escaped the construction as I've had other duties like having loads of fun.

We had some cooler weather for part of the last week which made the work a bit more bearable. We even had something that I think was rain which was wet and fell from the sky. The whole thing, I think we used to call them summer rain storms, lasted an incredible 30 seconds and was gone. All though no one really wants a good old fashioned rain storm in the middle of construction it is so hot and dusty that a short storm would actually be welcomed.

All though not really exciting here are a few pictures showing the current status:

WALLS!

The slab is done. I had to go out of town for a family emergency so I got to miss this part but my husband/contractor/site foreman took a picture of the prep with his camera. It seems he gets so busy actually doing things that he forgets to take pictures. Hmmmm.....imagine that.



The lower walls are mostly in. We've still got a couple of small walls on the interior foundation that we'll get done tomorrow and put the second top plates on and we also need to frame in a couple of windows and the lower door but the lower walls are mostly in! Once these few things are taken care of tomorrow the floor joists will start going up. Once all this is inspected the flooring will get put in and work on the 2nd floor will begin.

Here are some pictures of the walls and the HEAD HONCHO!



There are still a few things stored in the older part of the house that will be moved to the lower floor once it is covered. There is still some demolition to take place in the older part of the house but I don't suppose that will take long if only I can tolerate the mess that it will create. I'm beginning to wonder if I'm starting to drive my husband crazy with my constant, sweeping, picking up and organizing of the job site but he said he appreciates it. *snicker* Yeah, I don't even have a finished house yet and I'm all ready cleaning it.

We've learned a few things while putting in these walls, a few very important things. First when you are putting up walls in a lower level that will need to match to an existing structure or portion of a structure use a good transit. We'd borrowed one from a contractor friend and had done some rough measurements prior to returning it but when in the middle of constructing a wall the level shows you're even an 1/8 of an inch off it can be multiples of that by the time you finish all the walls. So we went out and bought a transit. Found a really great one on Craig's List very reasonably and close by! It saved out sanity even though when my husband looked at me and asked "how would you feel if I told you we needed to tear this first wall out and start over" I had a momentary feeling of something like depression mingled with anger! But he managed to fix it without tearing it all the way down (made a jig and used the circular saw to make all the studs the correct height). Using the transit after that, double checking all the measurements and a lot of work and we got it done.

Secondly, when using two separate tape measures (even of the same brand) calibrate them as not all inches or fractions of inches are equal. I had a made a cut for a stud and my husband asked me what I had measured it at. I replied with the measurement that he'd given me. He checked the length with his tape measure and it was short by 1/32 of an inch. When I checked it with mine it was right on (he of course had to verify that I knew how to read a tape measure and I had to verify that he knew how to read a tape measure). So we decided to place them side by side and calibrate them....well you guessed it. My tape measuring was measuring 1/32 of an inch shorter than his AND as we discovered later in the day that could actually vary to 1/8 of an inch. Now this doesn't seem like much but when you are building walls to match an existing structure it is extremely important and 1/8 of an inch can really add up. Now some of you might be thinking shouldn't all the studs be the same length. Well no. Concrete is a strange creature and I've come to the conclusion that it can never possibly be worked in a foundation wall where it is completely level. It will always have some spots a tad bit lower or higher and the sill plate lumber also has variations in it so you have to measure and cut each stud individually.

OK now it must sound like we are just as obsessive as we can be about this whole measurement thing and we are. I mean heck if we wanted it just slapped together we'd pay someone to do it and then complain about the workmanship the rest of our lives. Life is just too short and we are after all working for ourselves. Oh, and the final analysis. Less than 1/32 of an inch difference in height from the first wall joining the existing house and the last wall that joins the house and of course that is by design because the existing house is that far off level.