Roof Trusses

The focus this week was installing the roof trusses and panels and as a consequence, the house is really starting to take shape:

Here's the view out of the front guest room looking down onto the porch roof. We have 'over-sized' the porch because, as the house faces south, we expect to be able to enjoy both sunshine and a view of the Cascades mountain range on good weather days.

Here are the roof trusses spanning the master bath and Julia's upstairs studio. The trusses arrived pre-built which makes the construction process quicker, though Stanley said he would rather build them himself given the time.

Greg's on the studio roof putting the roof panels in place. The pitch of the roof is pretty steep - 8 inches up for every 12 inches across which had me a little concerned about Greg's safety once he was actually standing on the panels.

In order to provide some safety, Greg has a 'kick board' beneath him with the idea that before he slides over the edge of the roof, he 'kicks' the 2x6 and avoids a fall:

Meanwhile all the walls have been trued and the substantial steel earthquake brackets have been installed. These brackets are bolted to the foundations and attached to the load bearing uprights and are designed to prevent the frame of the house shearing off the foundations in the event of an earthquake. Although we do not experience earth tremors on a weekly basis like we did in the Bay area, research over the last couple of decades has shown the Cascadia fault off the Oregon coast is capable of creating a quake bigger than the Hayward or San Andreas faults in the San Francisco area. I don't know if building codes here have fully caught up with this revelation yet, but it does seem that the design of our house is taking quakes into serious consideration.

Looking forward, the windows have arrived and are sitting in the garage area waiting to be installed:

Similarly, the pre-primed fascia boards are also ready to be installed:

That's all folks...

Now the Snow Has Gone...

The onset of warmer weather and the melting of the snow means that framing has resumed at a rapid pace. Apparently Greg and Stan were on site last week sweeping snow off the house and attempting to make some progress last Tuesday, but when Greg noticed his van sliding sideways down the hill, he decided discretion was the better part of valour and took the day off. Since then though progress has been rapid.

Here's the view from the front. With all the second floor wall studs now in place, it's starting to look something like a house:

Here's Stanley playing an unlikely Juliet out of the front window of Julia's studio:

The front porch structure is also beginning to take shape. Here's the 18 inch cubed concrete blocks for the outer support posts (nice to see the bottom of the post off the ground):

Here's a view of the two porch support posts out front followed by Greg testing their strength:

With all the studs in place, combined with a number of temporary supporting walls that will be removed once the roof joists are in place, it's pretty confusing to make out the rooms from the photographs, But here we go..
Here's the front (guest) bedroom and window.

Here's the 2nd bathroom upstairs:

Here's the upstairs laundry room:

Here's a view of the master bath and beyond the closet. The window on the left is to the rear of the property and will be above the bath tub:

Here's Julia's upstairs studio. It's quite a big space, particularly once the temporary wall that Stan is constructing is removed. (The temporary wall is to support the roof joists while they are being installed).

Here's the alcove window in Julia's studio:

That's it for now folks.

Second Floor Construction Halted by Snow

Greg and Stanley have been making good progress on the second floor. Finishing the floor required the installation of a number of heavy duty beams. The one below is the biggest support beam in the house spanning the middle of the garage and measuring 6 inches by 16 inches:

The downstairs is getting quite cozy now that the upstairs floor is being put in place. Here's a view of the kitchen, pantry and closet areas:

Meanwhile upstairs the floor has been completely laid and here's Molly surveying the scene from the top of the stairs and out towards the oak grove to the rear:

In just a couple of days after the floor was in place, Greg and Stan had begun framing the upstairs walls. Here's the section to the west that includes two windows, one for the second bathroom and one for the laundry room:

Here's a view of the back of the house showing the two large windows that will look out from the master bedroom into the oak grove and the single large window that will be in the bathroom above the soaking tub (to be used after those long, hard bike rides in inclement weather). Molly preferred it when she could watch the squirrels without a wall in the way.

Julia's studio is also upstairs and here she is admiring the view from her studio window. The Cascade mountains are visible in the distance above the street light (honestly!).

And then yesterday it snowed heavily halting work on the house. This much snow (about 8 inches) is unusual in Corvallis so we are told. Given temps are not expected to rise out of the mid 20's Fahrenheit over the next few days, don't expect too many blog updates this week!

2nd Floor Expands

 Work is now progressing on the second floor (that would be the first floor in England) and below you can see the 'I' beam joists being installed.

Of course to get to the second floor you need to have some stairs and here's Greg demonstrating that they work:

Molly (our new dog) is also impressed with the rate of progress on her new house and is the first dog to try out the staircase:

Despite the step tread being incomplete yet and having some gaps, Molly seemed determined to check out the view from the top of the stairs:

And here she is approvingly surveying the view of her new Oak Grove from the second floor above the garage. She is looking forward to becoming acquainted with the squirrels!