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.)

Medium Bronze, Seal Brown

Even roofs have fun color names: Medium Bronze, Seal Brown, take your pick -- that's what the color sample called the color of our metal (aka brown) roof material.
Tim Luce (Luce Brothers Roofing), took measurements a few weeks ago. Then the pieces were fabricated at a nearby metal fabrication shop. Here's Matt prepping a piece:

This type of roofing is called "standing seam". In the photo below, the right edge is secured with screws. The left edge of the adjoining piece hooks over this edge covering the screw holes. This creates a water tight seam.


Andy and Tim install the first panel:


Here, the ridge vent is being installed.


Tom patiently poses in the frigid cold: (yes, he's standing on the ridge; and, yes, it's quite windy. Don't try this at home!)


After a few days, the roof is finished:


They will return to finish the last few pieces after the chimney is up.

More Closure

As we wait for the metal roof to be fabricated, lots of other things are happening. For starters, Gary trenched from the well head to the house for the water line:

A special "caution tape" is buried above the line and under the backfill. This will identify that there is a water and power line buried below if any digging happens there again. Here the tape is wrapped around the wellhead waiting to be stretched out in the trench:


The ever-present ledge in the ground made it difficult to dig as deep as desired to protect the water line from freezing, so John places sections of insulating boards over the pipe as it's backfilled:


The outer walls of the house were entirely wrapped in "Typar" housewrap. This material stops air infiltration while allowing any water vapor in the walls to pass through and migrate to the outside air.


Double paned insulated windows were installed and doors on each end which will eventually connect to porches:


The hatchway was installed and stairs down to the basement were built:


With the windows installed and sunshine, it's actually a little warm inside, even though the tempertures are still holding well below freezing.


The stump pile disappeared too! Last fall during clearing, we left one large tree stump standing. It's made for a nice conversation piece...(and we're taking suggestions about what to do with it).

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.

The Basement Slab

Making a basement floor is more than just picking a time to pour concrete. First, the house has to be enclosed from weather. Then the floor has to be kept from freezing. For weeks, John's been firing up Fred's generator and running an old propane heater to keep the temperature above freezing down there. He also rigged up fans to help circulate the air and remove moisture.

On New Year's Eve day, it was ready. We had a little picnic in the basement:

John's sophisticated fan hanging and cord management system are shown here:


The concrete arrived a few days later. It was sent down a chute through the basement window:


The Hampshire Concrete Team places the concrete:




Then they troweled it and the floor was done. Once set, George Propane brought in a cabinet heater (much better than the previous heater). John now uses this with the fans to manage moisture and keep the slab from freezing.

Utility Trenching

As you "locals" know, the last few weeks have been cold...really cold...way below freezing, single digit temperatures, and gusting wind (to make it more fun). Not suprisingly, this isn't Gary, Marc, and John's favorite condition for digging the power trenches, but they're up for the challenge. Since the utilities (electricity, cable and phone) are going underground, a roughly 2.5 foot deep trench needs to be dug from the house to the barn and from the barn to the utility pole at the roadside.
Some of the ground was covered in insulating snow which kept the ground unfrozen and much easier to dig. The bare sections, such as along and across the driveway, were a different story. Gary had to use his jack hammer attachment to loosen the hard frozen ground before trenching. He kept at it, and was almost finished at the pole when he encountered ledge. The jack hammer went back on, and he banged away at the rock. Meanwhile, conduit was placed in the rest of the trench and all but these last 10 ornery feet were backfilled. Short days and cold weather extended this process over several days.

Then it rained. The unfilled ledge section filled up with water:


The forecast was predicting more cold temperatures and soon. The trench had to be promptly pumped before it froze solid. John spent a day pumping water and digging in sub-zero winds. The remainig pipe was laid, backfilled and this phase was complete:



Conduit in the trench:


Marc the electrician poses for us:


Future electrical panel in basement:


Once the conduits are in place, Marc uses a vacuum to suck a string through them. These will then be attached to wires and fished through. It's a pretty high tech procedure ;-)

Pretty soon the electricity will be here and construction life will be much happier.