Framing Details…

A diagram showing some framing details included in The “L” Shaped House. We elected to use engineered open-web trusses for the main supports because of their ability the span the foundation without the need for center supports and the abundant space provided for HVAC ducting, plumbing, electrical, and low voltage systems. The whole system makes for a rigid structure that has a very solid feel as you walk around on the first and second floors.

• There is a 1/8” foam strip between the foundation blocks and sill plate.
• The sill plate is attached with bolts anchored in the block walls (exactly 100 bolts).
• The 3/4 (tongue and groove)  plywood is glued and nailed to the trusses.
• The OSB siding will be covered with Tyvek house wrap.

Drain tile…Day 4

The Sletten crew is busy today setting up the drain tile system beneath the basement floor as they prepare the space prior to pouring the cement slab. They have the laser out to help set the pitch of the drain tile pipe and to establish the grade height. The first photos show the trenching and drain tile. Wooden stakes all around the basement floor are set at the grade height and marked with big white X’s. The trench will be lined with fabric and the drain tile (pipes) carefully set on a bed of rock. The trench will then be filled to the top with additional rocks and “wrapped” with the fabric. The concrete  floor will be poured on top of a sheet of plastic that spans the rock filled trench. The top of the floor will be 2  1/2” above the “old” footing.

The drain tile pipes extend all the way around the perimeter of the foundation walls and are pitched to drain into the sump located below the entrance to the crawl space. The drain tile system already installed in the crawl space will empty into the same sump basket. A pump in the sump basket will send any water collected out through the wall and into the back yard through a 1  1/2” PVC pipe…

The diagram below shows the basement wall construction details and the water proofing system together. This is the kind of thing you add to a home hoping that it will never be used…but knowing it is there brings peace of mind.

  

• Wrapping the rock bed in fabric will prevent dirt from clogging the system.
• Floor edge is a “L” shaped corrugated plastic panel that allows water to flow under the concrete slab.
• The plastic sheet provides a vapor barrier and radon gas protection.
• The foam insulation has a backing that provides a vapor barrier for the basement wall.
• The 2 x 4 framing provides space for plumbing and electrical components as well as an air space.

Drain tile…Day 3

The Slettens are back to do the drain tile in the basement before they pour the cement floor. Chuck spent the day digging the trench for the rock bed where the drain tile will be installed. The hard packed clay makes for some tough digging.

The outlet for the drain tile system in the crawl space comes through the end wall and will connect to the sump basket that will be installed close to the back corner.  The basket is something like 18 inches in diameter and 2 feet deep (its visible in the background in the left hand photo above).

Framing…Day 8 (evening report)

For tonight’s evening report I decided to take photos of the front, back, and East side of the house. The first photo shows the front of  The “L” Shaped House with the new East side second floor walls in place.

The next photo shows the back side of The “L” Shaped House. The end walls of the bonus room and stairwell show the roof lines for the first time. We did not want the back side of the house to be just a couple of plain rectangles. I think that this view with the varied shapes and overhangs is starting to look very interesting.

The front wall of the garage with the bonus room end wall visible above. The last garage stall gets a shallow pitch (3/12) shed roof while the main roof will be 12/12 pitch.

The next photo (taken from the West end of the second floor) shows more of the new walls in the main house and the knee-walls around the perimeter of the bonus room.

Barry (Tappe) finished roughing in the garage stairs to the bonus room. The space under the stairs is going to make a very nice spot for a work bench and tool boxes.

Framing…Day 8

We had a couple of meeting at the house this morning so I’m posting a couple of photos shot around 10:30 am. The first shows three second floor wall sections standing an one more under construction. The Tappe guys have the “knee-wall” up most of the way around the garage as well.

The stairs from the garage to the “bonus room” above will be completed later today. Barry (from Tappe) added a two extra treads to the stairway to keep the step heights to 7  3/4”. We also made a couple of quick choices about exactly how the walls associated with the staircase will be implemented.

Framing…Day 7

There was a lot of progress at The “L” Shaped House today. The Tappe crew finished roughing in the main stairway, got a good start on the stairway in the garage, and installed all of the plywood decking on the second floor.

If you go way back in the postings on the blog (here) you will see that we looked at three different stairway configurations as we worked with Mike Kloti on the design of the “L” Shaped house. I think that placement of the stairwell on the back wall is going to work  really good. I think the rise and run of the stair treads, the size of the landing, and the general “look and feel” of the stairs from the living area is just right.

The Tappe crew had just finished installing the decking and was busy laying out the floor plan as I arrived just after lunch. These guys a pros and its fun watching them work.

The Tappe guys carefully laying out the floor plan on the second floor decking.

The second floor decking and stairway over the main part of the house. It’s a long way down from up there and a little scary walking around with a few big open holes and no walls.

Framing…Day 6

This posting will serve as the evening report on framing day six. I stopped by on my way home and took a few more photos…The first photo shows The “L” Shaped House with second floor trusses installed from my favorite perch on top of the big dirt pile out front..

The next photo shows the (rarely seen) South side of The “L” Shaped House with a temporary post supporting one corner of the side porch over-hang. Sam’s bedroom will occupy the space above.

This photo shows the beginnings of the main staircase. The first landing is installed and the top flight of stairs is roughed in. It is going to be really interesting to see the view from the second floor.

A video of the Tappe crew working as they lift floor trusses up to the second floor.

Exterior Colors… Many Options

Remember what I said about picking a siding color from the James Hardie color palette?

Well…Never Mind!

It turns out that the plan all along has been to put up primed siding and paint the exterior after the siding, and trim are installed. This means that the whole Sherwin Williams exterior paint color palette is now in play (1269 colors). Deb and I played around with the Color Visualizer on the Sherwin Williams website last night. We both liked Cloak Grey with white trim (Deb insists she wants a red door…). I colored Mike Kloti’s front elevation view and included it below. The sketch also includes Landmark Plus dimensional shingles (in Moire Black) from Certain Teed.

*Update*… “James” from the James Hardie Company points out (below) that there is a nice color selector tool available on the new James Hardie Facebook page (here). It’s a nice tool and kind of fun!

Plumbing…Day 3

The plumbing in the basement floor is in place ready for inspection. The sketch below shows the layout as it is installed (to the best of my ability). We added a floor drain by the water meter and routed the PVC piping a little differently from the previous plan.

The first photo shows a close-up of the connection to the sewer main as it exits the house. The floor drain connection is visible at the left hand side with the pressure tester in place. The second shows the new PVC pipes heading into the Northeast corner of the basement.

 

Framing…Days 5 & 6

The morning of day six is a crane day a The “L” Shaped House. The Tappe crew built wall sections for the both stairwells yesterday (day 5) and hoisted them into place early this morning. They are also placing all of the upper floor trusses on the first floor walls. This is going to be one of those days when the worksite is totally transformed. The first photo (taken from the big dirt pile out front) shows the two new wall sections standing tall above the first floor walls while the crane lowers first load of floor trusses on the far end of the garage.

The next photo shows the back wall of the main staircase being set in place on the foundation wall.

 

This photo shows the back side of The “L” Shaped House with both the garage and main staircase walls in place.

 

A photo of the garage stairwell walls and the Tappe construction crane in action.

A shot of the garage interior that shows the stairwell walls, some of the upper level floor trusses sitting on the big staircase header, and the steel “I” beam that is now in place between the third and fourth garage stalls.

The photo here (taken at noon today) shows the view from the breezeway entrance to the kitchen with the newly installed second floor trusses above. The beginnings of the stairway landing is just visible on the right hand side.