March Mudness

It's amazing to think that it's been six months since we began this project. I remember thinking last September, "What will all this look like six months from now?" I did not think about mud, but as you can see, there's plenty of it. Lots of activity has been in process these past few weeks. For one, Gary brought more gravel to make the driveway accessible.


We also had a snowstorm that buried John's truck for a few days.

Basement stairs, and a door were installed. The water was hooked up, too.

The electrical service cables and panels are installed. In the photo below, Sergei guides the cable into the conduit while Marc pulls on the other end with his van and a pulley and rope system.

And best of all, the power was connected!
No more noisy generator :-)

The interior framing continues. It's exciting to see new spaces created. Here are some framed skylights and knee walls on the second floor.

The future guest room:

Closets:

Ceiling:

And we laid out our rock collection. Why? A few of these "chosen" rocks will become part of the masonry heater. The mason has arrived and is currently working on the "core". More heater talk will come in future posts.

The plumber has arrived too. And in addition to pounding nails, John is also spending time designing the kitchen and bathrooms, lining up an HRV (heat recovery ventilation) system installation, and prepping for the cellulose insulation contractor. We've also started looking at appliances and deciding on the models. The specifications of some of them are needed now for roughing in. There's no lack of things to do!

Stair Framing

One of the first features to decide when designing a house is where to put the interior staircase. Staircases take up significant floor space and determine how the rest of the floor space will be planned. Style needs to be determined too. In our case we're choosing "winders" because they consume less space than other designs. Here, you can see the winder steps in framing mode:


Lower level of the basement stairs:


Looking down the basement stairs:


The main floor staircase:


And looking down from the second floor:

Of course we'll need to install permanenet treads and a railing system. This is where the fun will really begin.

The Biggest Stud

This is a cross section of a black birch log that John and Paul cut last Friday afternoon from the woods out back. It's a perfect candidate for the load bearing column we need in the main section of the house. The photographer was unavailable to document the actual felling, but, by all reports, it was as unconventional as it was challenging. The birch had to first be cut about nine feet in the air, and then cut again at ground level (which was frozen and snowy), to retain its character. The fact that it was growing over an unforseen rock also challenged the chainsaw. And then all nine plus feet of trunk had to be hauled about 100 feet to the house and then hoisted a few feet more to the first floor. This was accomplished by two sturdy Michiganders, a sled, and some rope.



John then proceeded to remove the aromatic bark with his draw knife. Black birch bark is used to make "Birch Beer". To me it smelled like wintergreen and the "kids paste" we had in grammer school.




Along with the bark, the cambium layer was removed to expose the light wood underneath.




It took a few hours and lots of muscle to finish the surface.




Another challenge was making the "butt" end perfectly square and flat. John discovered that the hand planer was an appropriate tool for this...



along with his level. Plane some... check it with the level... plane some more, and eventually it was flat and square.




Now it just needs to be vertical. John spent some time putting it in place...




And it fit! The temporary supports can now be removed.


The weekend's project is complete.

Double Studdin'

Before we begin, here's a shot of some birches through a 2nd floor window:



"Double Studding" is sometimes termed" super insulated". In our case the outside wall studs are doubled up with a strips of rigid foam insulation between them which serve as a thermal break to prevent heat from being conducted through the studs from interior to exterior. This also creates contained cavities for the cellulose insulation. Here's an example of how the second set of studs are installed. Notice the rigid foam strips along the edge of the studs:



Here, the second set of studs are erected:

The rim joists also need to be insulated. See the blue rigid insulating board at the top of the wall:

Spray foam is applied to the cracks around the rigid insulaion inside the rim joists. All spaces must be air sealed!

Upstairs, the rafters have extra insulation and framing added, too:

Full sheets of rigid foam board are installed over the rafter assemblies. The space behind the rigid foam will be filled with blown-in cellulose.

Meanwhile, John contemplates how to frame the skylights:

Interior walls are being framed too. The house has become a studding display:

(Builder's note: I once worked with a carpenter whose truck sported a bumper sticker that proclaimed "It Takes Studs to Build Houses" Sigh.)

Enter Here

Work this past week has been on the entryway. We've been interested in incorporating some salvaged beams in our construction. Not only are they desirable because they're reclaimed material, but they have history, a story, and character. Our first attempt at finding salvaged carrying beams for the house did not work out due to timing, cost and availability. (Salvaged does not necessarily mean inexpensive.) Marc, our electrician, knew of some old hemlock beams on one of his projects in Springfield, and John had transported them up to be stored temporarily in Marc's barn in Whately. They were the right sizes for framing the entry way. This is what they looked like prior to being cleaned up. John wanted to plane them but they were full of old hardware: staples, nails, and screws-- some that were broken off below the surface. Just one small piece of metal will ruin a planing blade. So, John retrieved his "magic wand" and some nail pullers and went to work.

The "Lumber Wizard" is used by moving the wand along the surface of the wood. It lights-up and beeps when metal is found. Once all the metal is removed, the beams are ready for planing. Because they are large, only two sides could fit through the planer. The other two had to be planed by hand with a power planer.

Here's a view of the finished beams in place (inside joint).

And here is an outside view. The double 2x4 uprights are temporary and will be replaced with something else (once we decide what it is!) Are you wondering what the "story" is behind these beams? Were they once part of the USS Constitution? We'll never know for sure, but the last place they lived was as decoration in a Springfield liquor store...

The entryway roof is now ready for sheathing:

Now that it's sheathed, it needs to be closed up, but not without a gable vent.

John works on the vent:

This view is from the inside. John mentions how odd it is to be framing in reverse order (sheathing, then framing):

It's still a construction site. Once the stumps are gone, it will look much more inviting.

Closure

As temperatures drop, and and winter is officially here, we're anxious to finish closing the house to the weather. Now that the roof framing is in place it's time to sheath the gable ends, roof overhangs, and the roof itself. The goal is to accomplish this before the holidays. Realizing that some extra hands are necessary, John starts making phone calls. David (from next door), says he can be available starting the next day! Krzys rearranges his busy schedule and helps too. Back at the shop, John cuts and primes the gable brackets and pine board sheathing (for the overhang). Meanwhile, Gary is trenching for the underground utilities. More about this will be in our next post.

David and John pose with the sheathed gable ends:

Roof parts -- gable brackets:

Roof parts -- pine board sheathing:

John takes a break from making roof parts in the shop:

Installed gable grackets:

Brackets and pine board sheathing:

Rafter tails and pine board sheathing:

The roof is now ready for the plywood sheathing:

Finally, the roof is sheathed. It's the Afternoon of December 23rd, cold, and windy. The guys comment about hauling 4 by 8 foot pieces of plywood up to the roof in the cold and gusty winds. It's a challenge! And It's done ... well, almost ... John installs the last piece:

(click to enlarge)

On December 24th, the morning is spent applying the roof paper. This will protect it until the final material is installed. Gary, Kryzs, John and David take a morning break to refuel with eggnog and pastries:

Then it's back to the final pieces:

By mid afternoon, they're finished:

Merry Christmas!