Framing Week #7

Monday, July 20, 2009...The framing crew worked one day this week, finishing up the porch railing...installing a few more windows...and raising a door opening on the ground level. They won't return until next week when work on the siding will begin.

You can see to the back of the house the windows are not yet installed. The large opening on the first floor is for a double window unit. Ray suggested we not install this window yet because the opening will make the back of the house much more accessible when the concrete floor is poured. The rectangular hole on the second floor is for the kitchen door...we purchased this door last summer, but after flipping the cabinet locations, it didn't open in the right direction. We moved it to the front of the house, next to the garage door. The third floor also needs a window, which I assume they will install (along with the house wrap) when they return next week to begin siding.

The section of porch where railing is missing will eventually have steps from the drive up to the front door. There will be a matching set on the opposite side of the house from the kitchen door down to the yard/garden area. The steps cannot be installed until the excavators return and finish the backfilling. The blue foam on the lower wall is approximately where the finished grade will be. The garage doors would've been installed by now IF I had ordered the correct size! Another oops! Providentially, Scott from Crain Lumber, the local store where we ordered all our doors and windows, had a buyer for them and called me with his name. What could've been a very costly mistake only set us back a few hundred dollars. So, new garage doors are on order, and siding is scheduled for delivery on July 28th.

Meanwhile, Hubby and J-Bird have been hard at work moving stone into the garage again. The ramp is back in place...it comes in handy but is SO unwieldy.

As the guys were moving stone, all the "stuff" we've been storing downstairs had to be moved. All the stuff in this photo...

used to be over here!

Also this week, Hubby and my Dad are making steady progress on the plumbing. It is crucial that we get all the basement drains placed correctly, so that we can move on to laying out the PEX tubing for the in-floor radiant heat. Here is the first floor bathroom so far. The tallest pipe on the right is the wet vent...the short pipe to the left is for the toilet...and the pipe in the foreground is the drain pipe that will extend under the garage floor out the front of the house and down the hill to the septic tank.

Close up of bathroom plumbing. Great care is taken to insure there is 1" fall per every 4' of length. When the proper angle is attained, stone is filled in around the PVC for stabilization.

Looking upward where the first floor and second floor plumbing meet. We thought this would be an easy job...all three bathrooms are "stacked" one on top of another. However, each floor has presented us with challenges. The first floor walls are 10" thick poured concrete. The placement of the second floor joists gave us little room to run the pipes, so the crew boxed out a place for us to work.

Then the transition from the second floor to the third floor is tricky because the exterior walls are offset. Again, a section of joist was removed to accommodate the pipes.

And...because you can never have enough...more shots from the deck.

The underneath of the porch roof will be finished off with 6" wide v-groove pine boards.

Looking towards the kitchen window. One day soon, terrific smells will waft out through that window, beckoning family and friends to come and dine. Until then...

Stay tuned,
Kris