Serious Framing -- Week 19 -- 11/5-9/07

We spent lots of time at the job site this week. Trout was fascinated by the work being done as well as by how hard the crew worked. We were so pleased, we brought them beer one day & Costco muffins another.

The project went from just a few walls last week to the installation of shear panels & trusses by the end of this week. The sheathing/shear walls/OSB are not completed yet, but the bottom pieces are mostly on.

The crew & the builder even let Trout help raise a couple of walls. The pictures tell the story.

La Mansión Maybe Mañana was crawling with activity.

This is one havy Glulam beam, but a special lift & some strong workers make short work of setting it in the shop.

Trout helps with last house perimeter wall. This one is for the master bath/garage.

Trout also helped raise the 1st perimeter wall of the shop.

Bend your knees, guys!

Going up.

Now vertical.

Being leveled. Trout loved this tool.

North wall of the shop framed.

North wall of the shop from the other end, partially covered with OSB.

Guest bedroom from the inside, framed.

Guest bedroom from the outside with shear walls.

This is what we'll see from the kitchen & dining nook.

These are some of the trusses.

Vince, in the hat, & only one other worker carry a truss into the house.

Vince supervises the setting of this truss in the master bath.

Truss installation from outside the house.

South side framing only.

South side with OSB.

West side framing only.

West side with OSB.

Next week we will verify the locations of interior walls, the framers will construct those & maybe get started on the roof.

The Cure & the Sticks-- Weeks 17-18

This waiting really is tedious. But we had to wait for the concrete to cure & for the post-tension cables to be stretched.

Sometimes delays happen for good reasons, like better financial planning. The lumber was originally going to be delivered on Monday, October 29th, but we learned that if it was, the payment for it would be due November 10th. We decided to wait to have it delivered until Thursday, November 1st so that payment for it wouldn't be due until December 10th. That should allow for the framing to be completed & inspected & for the draw from the bank to be managed correctly.

In the midst of all this, we had to sign paperwork recognizing that a lien would be placed on the house if the contractor didn't pay or the bank didn't pay or we didn't pay for the lumber. I guess the company has had problems with non-payment in the past. So by delaying the delivery a bit, we could avoid any potential hassles in that arena because of timing.

The lumber was delivered on November 1st & framing began November 2nd. We didn't get to see the initial work because we were on a Dia de los Muertos tour that day, but we did catch up on the weekend. I was amused & pleased to see that at least some of the lumber was from Weyerhaeuser since I retired from there. The framing forman, Vince, said that's who they use for special orders.

Because of the stucco, it's not usual to put what they call "shear" walls all around the house down here. They usually do it only at stress points. But because Trout's shop is so tall, the whole house had to get an engineering stamp from Pima County. And if it was going to have to get that, we decided to make bigger windows closer to the corners which required that the entire house be sheathed in OSB, or shear panels as they call them here.

Besides the materials ready to go, this is what we saw the 1st weekend in November.

It wasn't a lot, but it was a start. See the next post for the real action.