What’s in Your Walls?

So…when you go to hang stuff on the walls in your house how do you decide where to drive the nails? Can you remember where you put the blocking? Are you sure there isn’t some important wire or a water line running right where you want your hanger?

At the “L” Shaped House we are going to use our X-Ray photos to solve this age old dilemma. If you recall I have carefully taken photos of every wall in the house at each stage of the construction. Using Adobe Photoshop I can now combine these photos to create a composite image that allows us to once again “look beyond what we can see” !!!

These two photos are combined using layers, the opacity slider, and the warping tool in Photoshop.

Framing…Day ?

Our old friends Barry and Brody from Tappe showed up yesterday and installed the columns on the porches. The front porch (pictured below) has four Permacast columns equally spaced across the front edge. They also added framing in the ceiling for the screen porch region at the far end.

The breezeway on the East side gets two columns at the ends of the porch. The have also installed all of the treated posts support posts on both breezeway decks.

December 3rd…wrap up

With the cold temps (high today 33 degrees) and snow flurries today felt like a day of transitions. We have reached the point where outside work is almost certainly done for the winter and the inside changes will be harder to see. During my late afternoon visit today I opened the door to warmth and the smell of sheet rock taping…It was a good feeling. The sheet rockers, the insulation guys, and our old friend Matt Sletten (our ceramic tile guy) were all working inside.

The first photo below shows the insulation truck out front and the tube blowing fiberglass running up into the attic. The insulating crew arrived late today and will be back in the morning to finish up the job.

The next photo shows the framing for the first floor closet we have decided to add in the laundry room. This is coming after a whole bunch of thought and careful consideration as we have been planning kitchen and laundry room cabinetry. Deb felt (and I agree) that there was not an adequate closet on the first floor for things like our central vacuum hose set, mops, buckets, and the like. We’ve decided to turn the broom closet in the kitchen into a cabinet style pantry and build this “real” closet in the laundry room. The last photo shows the upstairs laundry room with the sheet rock taping underway.

BSR…Before Sheet Rock

The interior spaces at the “L” Shaped House are all ready for sheet rock. The photo below…taken from the front corner of the master bedroom…shows most of the “behind the scenes” interior elements nicely. The framing, electrical, plumbing, heating/air conditioning, and home automation work will all disappear from view as the sheet rock goes up. I have carefully taken a photo of every wall in the house. Hopefully creating both a permanent record and a helpful guide for adding and fixing stuff later.

Framing…The Basement wrap-up

With the backyard water troubles (hopefully) behind us I think a few panoramic basement photos are in order. The first one is taken from the fireplace corner looking toward the crawl space entrance on the far end. From here you can see the walk-out door, the stairway, the bathroom, the furnace room, and the storage room at the far end of the basement. When I showed up right after lunch yesterday there were six guys working in this space. A couple of the saws and stacks of materials had to be setup outside the walk-out door in the mud causing the floor to become an unholy mess! Its a good thing there weren't any Moms there.

The next photo is taken from the front wall of the storage room looking back toward the walk-out door. In it you can see the storage under the stairs, the walk-out door, and the guest bedroom at the far end. It’s really amazing how different this space feels with the framing in place (and the floor dried up).

Next a a shot taken from the far side of the walk-out door looking back at the storage room.

And finally a photo from the back corner of the storage room.

Framing…Day 21

The Tappe guys moved down the basement early this morning. By noon they had pretty much the whole lower level framed and the stairs in place. The first photo shows the basement stairway with the doorway to the bathroom on the right. On the far left we catch only our second glimpse (in 152 blog entries) of our camera shy construction supervisor…Paul Winters.

The next photo shows the South and East walls of the storage room with the water meter and sewer main at the bottom right hand side. Here you can see the insulation and joint taping just behind the wall framing. The end wall is only insulated in the section where the outside wall is exposed. This allows us to “crowd” the wall right up the the block wall where the furnace will sit.

The last couple of photos show the walls adjacent the basement walk-out door. The first shows how the framing is set up to provide a contingency for recessed cabinetry in this wall down the road. The last one shows how the wet conditions outside keep trying make it inside the “L” Shaped House…Yuck!

Framing…Day 2o (evening report)

The sheathing is up on the front porch, the roofing crew has 3/4 of the house “dried-in”, and the Slettens poured 1/2 of the basement floor. All things considered its been a big day at the “L” Shaped House.

Framing…Day 20

By noon today the Tappe guys had the roof trusses and supports installed on the new front porch. The first photo shows the the front of the “L” Shaped House from the top of the dirt pile. Brody is finishing some of the detail framing. They plan to have the roof sheathing up by the time they leave tonight.

In this photo we can also see the roofing guys installing paper on one of the front dormers. They plan to “dry in” the whole roof today and tomorrow with roofing paper in anticipation of the rains predicted for Thursday and Friday.

The next photo shows an end view of the front porch with pretty much all of the structural elements in place (we won’t see the PermaCast pillars for some time). I did not get a chance to walk around on the deck but it feels really nice to stand in the living room looking out through the framing!

Framing…Day 19 (evening report)

The Tappe crew spent the afternoon working on the breezeway porches. The rear porch now has a roof over it and the fussy work building and then blending the extension under the bedroom floor trusses is complete.

The porch on the driveway side also has an extension to the floor trusses above it in place. The extensions bring the outside wall down under the “bumped out” bedrooms to provide space for the wide trim board that will eventually wrap the entire house. This is one of the fine details that Mike Kloti insists is going to set the “L” Shaped House apart.

Framing…Day 19 (The front porch)

The Tappe guys jumped right in and started building the rough framing for the porch decks this morning. By noon they had the front and both side porches set up and were about to finish up the 6 x 6 support structures that sit on the footings poured Saturday.

We decided very early in the design process to have large porch across the front to take advantage of the beautiful view and make the “L” Shaped House more welcoming. Two thirds of the front porch will be open. The last third will be a screen porch off the living room. In the next couple of days the framers will add support columns and roof trusses over the deck surface and the roofers will start to install a standing seam metal roof. It is going to be fun to watch as this last important element of the house develops.

Framing…Day 18

At noon all of the rooms on the first and second floor were rough framed (I’m sure there are still details to attend to). The first two photos below show the hallway extending from the stairs to the upstairs laundry room at the East end of the house. Anna’s room and the attic space next to it show in the left hand photo. The right hand photo shows the book nook, the top of the stairs and the hallway. The whole second floor feels “cozy” to me.

The next photo shows Sam’s room, the hall, and bonus room. With the big window on the East wall his bedroom feels a little like a tree house. I’m sure he is going to enjoy the easy access to the wide open space that is the bonus room!

One last photo showing the front of the “L” Shaped House with the roof sheathing exposed. The roofers start shingling tomorrow morning!

Deb and I stopped by tonight to walk through the second floor. We ran into Paul and Matt Sletten as they finished laying out the footings for the front porch, Amy from next door popped over and we all toured through the house. The framing has made it difficult to get a decent photo but its fun to finally walk in and out of all the rooms.

The last photo shows the arch installed in the entry to the book nook at the top of the stairs. Oh…and Anna also ran into her friend Chester and showed him all around the “L” Shaped House!

Framing…Day 17 (evening report)

A couple of panoramic photos of the second floor taken during a fast visit on my way home tonight. The first photo is taken from Anna’s bedroom looking out at the book nook at the top of the stairs and Helen’s room across the hall. The book nook space feels really good…I’m glad we decided to include it and especially happy we enlarged it (book nook).

The second is shot from the front corner of Helen’s room looking toward the two closets and doorway leading into the hall. The interesting little attic area on the left will have an access door just behind the stack of lumber. It looks like all the rooms in the “L” Shaped House will be framed by tomorrow night making it the first night we’ll be able to walk the whole house with all the interior spaces in place.

Framing…Day 17

The roof framing is now officially complete. The Tappe guys finished up their work on the soffits and house wrapping last night and this morning. The photo below shows the house from the top of the dirt pile in the back yard. From this vantage point you can see the 3/12 pitch garage and music room (shed) roofs, the 12/12 pitch roofs on the garage & main house, and the 8/12 pitch to the back between the dormers over the stairs on the main house.

By noon they had a good start on the second floor interior walls. The first photo shows the view looking toward the master bedroom from the East end of the upstairs. From here you can see the beginnings of the hallway and the end wall of the book nook.

Next is another panoramic composite image using three separate photos. This one shows the master bedroom looking towards the opposite corner. The two walk-in closets and West wall attic space are visible in front of the master bathroom at the rear of the photo (the yellow arrow shows the pathway into the attic space). These shots always get a little confusing and seem to work better when they are left un-cropped.

The next two photos show close ups of one end of the book nook and a shot down the attic space adjacent the West wall of the master bedroom. We decided to take out the door to the attic in the bedroom and provide access through the back of the walk-in closet. This is going to make a fine “hide-and-seek” destination.

 

Finally the inside wall at the top of the stairs to the bonus room from the garage. This wall will get a fire door and a solid glass (non-operating) window to comply with the requirement for separation between the garage and bonus room spaces.

Framing…Day 16

Today is officially the first day of Autumn and it feels a little fall like outside. The Tappe guys finished up all of the roof sheeting just before noon and are going to button up the Tyvek house wrap around the end of the garage this afternoon. The roofing folks should be able to get going on the shingles soon. The panoramic shot below shows the back side of the house with the whole roof in place.

The next photo is a panoramic shot taken inside the bonus room looking back towards the second floor of the main house. The Tappe crew plans to get after the second floor interior walls tomorrow morning. It’s a very nice feeling to get the roof sheeting all in place. It will probably feel even better when there are shingles up there.

Framing…Day 15

The Tappe guys are plugging along installing roof sheeting. At noon today they were just starting to get into the bonus room over the garage. Today is the day of new perspectives. The first photo shows The “L” Shaped House from ground level just to the right of the dirt pile. This is the view you will see as you come up the driveway.

The back side of the house showing the the big pitch between the two dormers that will present some interesting challenges for the gutter guys (there will be a lot of water coming down this pitch).

This photo shows a panoramic view of the second floor from the master bedroom looking toward the hallway to the bonus room. The roof trusses create a veritable maze of lumber in the ceiling. Barry tells me that the folks at Scherer Brothers did not make a single mistake in the Trusses…Amazing!

This last photo taken from the hallway at the top of the stairs shows a section of the roof where three pitches come together. There are trusses running all directions and sheeting meeting on top. The gap at the top is the peak of the roof that the ridge vent will cover. The chaos up there kind of makes me dizzy!

Framing…Day 14

The Tappe crew continues their rapid pace on the roof. By noon today they had covered almost all of the front of the house and were working towards the garage. The many roof sections and pitch changes makes for a lot of transitions. The sheeting changes the look and feel of the house once again (almost as much as the trusses did yesterday). The first photo was taken at the top of the well worn trail up the front dirt pile.

This next photo shows the master bedroom, walk-in closets, and master bath on the West end of the second floor. It is a panoramic photo (using two pictures taken from the same spot) created with the automated photomerge tool in Adobe Photoshop. Even with the panoramic distortions the un-cropped image shows the whole space nicely (I also thought it might be fun to show what an unedited photomerge image looks like).

The last photo is another “long” shot from the street in front of the neighbors house. I think that The “L” Shaped House is going to fit into the neighborhood pretty nicely (especially when it is not bright white!).

Folding Trusses…

In part of the The “L” Shaped House we are using folding trusses. The long legs and high pitch of the bonus room trusses make them too large to ship on a truck in one piece.  In the past, a second piggyback truss would have been needed to top off a smaller 'base truss' to form the entire truss profile.  The MiTek truss hinge hardware allows for less lumber to be used and greater jobsite efficiency.

Yet another example of the “Green Thinking” that is integral part of The “L” Shaped House.