Framing (January—February 2002)
Once the foundation guys left it was time to start piecing together the puzzle. We've started laying out the beams for the lower floor subfloor. It was a little more complicated than usual because those deck outriggers needed to be lower than the subfloor, to allow for a one-inch step down as you walk out onto the deck. Plus the joists switched from 2x10 to 2x12 at the acute angle walls at the west end of the house.
Here we've just about finished the joists and are ready for the plywood subfloor.
Finally! up out of the mud!
We got a little shot of February weather as we started framing. Here, we've got the first wall laid out on the deck and Rob is nailing it together.
One of the first things we needed to do was place these steel I-beams that are welded to a plate in the foundation and reach all the way to the rafter level. We hired a 50-ton crane for the day and the last beam — about 1500 pounds and 90 feet horizontal from the parking lot — stretched his capacity to the limit.
One the crane lifted the beams in place, we braced them and Mike Polly welded them to the steel plate embedded in the foundation.
And then the bravest soul on the crew went up the ladder to unfasten the cable. Going 20 feet up a ladder leaning against a wall is one thing, but it's a little spooky with nothing on the other side of the ladder but air. And on this site, the nearest ground is the wetland about 300 feet down the hillside.
So there they are — two I-beams ready to be incorporated into the framing so the house can stand up to those 90-mph winds.
Now we start framing in earnest. We've just about got the exterior walls done on the lower level. Next we'll do the interior walls and then we're ready for floor joists and we jump up one level. This picture was taken Feb. 15.