Day 69: More metal roofing and tree pruning

The folks from Wildcat Metals were back again today. They completed installation of almost all of the main home roof panels.

I took this video of the seamer used to make the mechanical connection between panels.

Here is a pic of the underside of the seamer.

This was the last day we had the telehandler, so we used it to assist with pruning the trees next to the north side of the home. There were many dead branches that must be removed to help maintain defensible space against a wildfire. We also removed a small tree that was very strained from nearby construction trenches over the past 2 years. I am always sad when a tree is cut down, but the 2 neighboring trees will be healthier. All of the smaller branches will be run through a woodchipper and turned into garden mulch. The larger branches will make heat in Justin's woodburning stove. Here is a pic from the west at the end of the day.

Other tasks from day 69:

• Trevor completed installation of the level spreader
  
• Justin and I completed installation of the trim board under the eaves
  
• Coady continued routing vent pipes for the sewer lines and began installing the rough valves for the fixtures
  

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

Day 63: More windows and electrical wiring

We installed 10 windows and 1 sliding glass patio door today. One window and 2 sliding glass doors remain. Here is a pic of Marty and Justin getting ready to install the picture window in the east wall of the loft – Trevor is driving the telehandler.



In between window installations, Erik the electrician had me position electrical wiring boxes in their final locations. Erik’s assistant Ryan used a router to cut channels in the walls connecting switch boxes to wall socket boxes. Ryan also began running Romex power cable between the boxes.

Justin made a nice freehand sawzall cut to the cantilevered end of the porch beam.

Stella status:
She was looking much better today – the swelling from the sting in her cheek was gone. Thanks for reading. Please feel free to leave a comment.

Day 50: Glulam and I-Joists

We had a small crew again today. We set the 2nd large curved glulam in the beam seats. Then we attached hangers to the curved glulams and hung 3 rafters over the great room before the end of day 50.

Green comment for today:
Consider using engineered wood instead of dimensional lumber. The I-joists I am using for rafters have the following advantages compared to the solid dimensional 2X10 members they replace:

• they are constructed with small leftover scraps from other wood manufacturing processes, thereby reducing harvesting of additional trees
  
• they use less material to provide equivalent stiffness
  
• they do not warp

The curved glulams are also considered engineered wood. They have the advantage of being constructed from smaller laminated pieces with custom curvature. The equivalent solid dimensional lumber beam would have been cut from one large log.

I can hear you asking why I used solid dimensional lumber for the loft floor joists. I needed to keep the floor as thin as possible to save ceiling height in the bedroom. I was able to use 2X8 dimensional joists. I-joists do not come any smaller than 2X10, and I did not want to lose 2” of headroom in the bedroom.

I’ll close today with a great panorama shot I got while up about 40 feet on the telehandler. Thanks for reading. Please feel free to leave a comment.

Thanks for the lift Trevor!

Day 48: Curved glulams and loft floor

The FSC certified curved glulam beams from Standard Structures, Inc. arrived this morning. Two large beams are used in the main home roof framing, and 9 small beams are used in the porch and utility roof framing. We rented a telehandler to hoist the large beams into place – they weigh over 600 pounds each. The following pic shows the east beam being hoisted into place. Raphael has the leash, Trevor is driving and Justin is waiting at the south beam seat.

The following pic shows the beam nearly in place with Joshua at the north wall.

From here, measurements and marks were made for the beam seat cuts. The beam was lowered back to the ground for cutting. The beam was then raised back into its final resting position.

Holes were drilled through the beam, and bolts were installed to fasten the beam to the brackets. In the following pic you can see the north beam seat bracket with 2 bolts and the 11 plies of 2X6 lumber that make up the 16-1/2 inch tall beam.

The loft floor was also completed today. Here is a great shot Raphael took from the lift earlier in the day while the floor was in work.

And a pic of the finished floor...

...and another showing the loft floor and beam.

I’ll close with a pic of a large beetle we found this morning upside down but still kicking on the slab. We named it Ringo. As soon as it warmed up, it was on its way. Thanks for reading. Please feel free to leave a comment.