Day 33: Getting ready for wall lift #2

First off, my apologies to Raphael whose name I incorrectly spelled "Rafael" on several previous posts. I owe him a few beers for that error.

Today we stacked the 10th course of APEX block – the final course before the next wall lift. The curved east and west walls of the utility room were cut.

Two corners of the home were supported and banded with steel straps.

A ledger was mounted on the north wall of the family room. Studs were placed below the ledgers to hold them at the correct height during the lift. Large cable ties hold the ledgers against the wall to prevent grout from leaking out of the J-bolt holes during the lift.

Here is a pic from the southwest at the end of day 33.

“Don’t cut this hole in the wall” man.

Thanks for reading. Feel free to leave a comment.

Day 31: Lots of tasks

A short post today just listing the tasks that were started or completed.

• Filled in APEX block around the big beam up to 8 courses.
• Cut all the remaining window bucks for the 2nd story.
• Assembled all but one window buck.
• Cut and installed vertical rebar in APEX cores under 2nd story window locations.
• Planed and sanded two 4X10 ledgers.
• Shored up the south wall in preparation for installing 2nd story window bucks.
  
• Installed one window buck.
• Drilled holes in one of the ledgers for J-bolt attachments to the wall.
• Drilled 5 inch diameter holes in the West kitchen wall to form concentric concrete cylinders around each J-bolt during the next grout lift.

Here is a pic at the end of day 31. The 2nd story is starting to take shape.

Thanks for reading. Please feel free to leave a comment.