Framing Photo Fest

Drove up this afternoon to see the progress and make sure the framing is what wew want. It gets really hard to fix things later.  The interior doors on the main floor are all going to get reframed so they are 8'. With 10' ceilings, it just makes more sense and looks better.

The staircase from the main to the top floor is temprorary. The *real* staircase will be using glulam stringers and treads. 

The roof beams and joists have all be delivered. They couldnt' get a crane up there until Monday. (I hadn't realized how tall the building is. It's TALL.

View from the street with the roof joists across the driveway.

Top floor looking from the SW corner looking to the NE corner.

Looking at the West wall. It's awaiting beams on either side of the taller center part of the wall. 

Looking at the South wall (bedroom) from the bunk room. 

Closeup of the South wall (bedroom).

Looking at the North wall (bunk room)

Temporary staircase from the main floor to the top floor. 

Looking North out the main floor door to what will be a small deck.

The view out the North wall on the main floor.

Looking at the North wall on the main floor.

Main floor fireplace framing. (It's wrong.... They need to reframe it so there's a 2ft space below the fireplace for storing wood.)

The view South out the main floor powder room.

Looking up at the North facing wall from the NE corner.

 

Looking up at the North acing wall from the NW corner.

 

Looking up at the front door and the SE corner of the cabin.

Looking at the East wall of the cabin.

There's a lot on the docket next week:

• Roof joists get placed with a crane.
• Roof deck (and possibly metal roof) will get installed.
• Slab on grade should get poured.
• Windows delivered midweek.
• Septic install begins.
• Garage door may bet installed.

And, of course, I'll be out of town for all of it (again).

Top floor deck is on.

Top floor wall framing begins.

Week-in-summary timelapse

It was a good week.

Framing's underway and progressing nicely. I paid the lumber bill with a big juicy check that put a big dent in our expenditures to-date. Picked up the shower pan at Home Depot.
The metal roof is on order. By end of this coming week the slab on grade should be poured framing complete.  Roof joists get delivered the following week, and the septic system, garage door, windows, and roof are all scheduled to start or go in first week of October.

Framers are hitting their stride.

The first framed walls on the main floor and a nice big meaty beam went in place today.

We also had an unfortunate theft of rigid foam insluated panels that were to be used under the concrete slab. I filed a report with the county....  <grumble>

Live update: Power Meter and Panel

The power meter and circuit panel are going in today, courtesy of Karlin. Hopefully hooked up to permanent power within a week or so -- inspectors willing.

Realtime framing update

Relayed via mobile device straight from the site just a few minutes ago.  (The framing stage is SO satisfying!)

Um...snow...mid-September....

Need to get that roof on!

The weather forecast has things warming up next week. But we all know how accurate forecasts are.

Framing Starts + Emergency Generator Run

Ok.  So, just summarizing framing this week:

"Framers start Tuesday."
"Framers start Thursdsay."
Framers showed up Thursday, only to find that part of the framing package with the floor joists had been omitted from the original delivery.
"The missing lumber will be delivered on Friday and the framers will start then, too."
"Framers start Saturday, really."

I got a call from Norm about 9am Saturday morning that the framers were there but they had tripped the circuit breaker to the extension cord supplied by our neighbor. And no access to the breaker box.

I threw our generator in the back of my SUV, picked-up some gas cans Norm left at his house for me, fueled everything up in Sultan, and arrived at the site just before 11 am.

The framers had managed to find power at a neighbor's cabin. I left the generator there as a backup.

Friday Night Date on Framing Eve

Well... the framing saga will be covered on the next blog post, but let's just say that as of Friday evening, September 16 framing had not begun.  Katie and I drove up early evening to survey Norm's progress with the landscaping and trenching.  And had a nice Thai dinner with him afterward in Monroe.

We were very pleased with the landscaping, as you'll see from the video.

Minutiae

• The portopotty company that Katie scheduled with yesterday for delivery tomorrow emailed us today cancelling our order.
  
  "Sorry, we don't deliver there."  Katie's back on the phone trying to round up a replacement service (which we'll pay exhorbitantly for, I'm sure.)
• The framers showed up today, but apparently the 12" floor joists were ommitted from our order that was delivered on Tuesday -- and no one told us. They are supposed to be delivered tomorrow.... So the framers will come back tomorrow. Pretty tough to start framing without floor joists. 
• Our water shutoff valve in the street is PVC, not brass. PVC likes to get brittle and crack, especially when it gets cold. But apparently the PVC is intentional by the water association, so we'll have to go with it and hope (and pray) that they don't crack in the winter. They're only about 8" underground....
• I was hoping to cancel one window out of my Pella order since we're going to put a door in instead. But I can't because that would "reset" the whole order, delaying it by 8 weeks. The guy at Lowe's told me they have pretty good customer service: Just bring the window you don't use back and talk to management. They'll probably give you a refund. 
• I'm attempting to order the exterior staircase, but I can't seem to call/talk to the sales rep. She only emails...  I'm trying to get their definition of "rise" so that we know run.

Framing starts today + misc. updates

• The framers start framing today.
• The portopotty shows up tomorrow.
• Purchased 400 Amp electric service for the house ($2800!!) yesterday.
  I know what you're thinking: Why 400 Amp?!
  All the following will be powered by electricity and potentially ON at the same time. In-floor electric heating, on-demand water heater, electric induction range, and hottub. The water heater alone takes 3 x 50 Amp circuits... That's just the big stuff. 
• Purchased an L&I Electrical Work Permit ($124)
• I purchased a 36x36 shower pan for the downstairs bathroom. (Gotta know where to put the drain before we pour the slab.)

Am I done paying for permits? I sure hope so.

Lumber package arrives

I took a quick trip up to the site before work this morning to get our timelapse camera better positioned to watch the framing (plus a bigger memory card).  I arrived just a couple minutes behind the lumber/truss company delivery truck. She got there earlier than any of us were expecting. Rachael played a mean game of tetris with the various lumber bundles on the truck, all documented on YouTube.

For those not inclined to watch the video, here's the end result.

And a pic of the foundation that is now backfilled.

Foundation walls are up! Stripping the form ties.

The foundation walls were poured on Wednesday. Our schedules did not allow us to attend the event in person. Apparently, the concrete trucks were scheduled to arrive about 2:00pm but didn't show up until 4:30pm.

We drove up on Saturday to perform the menial task of stripping the ties out of the concrete. We learned how NOT to do it, and Katie figured out how. See the video for full detailss.

We couldn't complete stripping all the ties because there was wet mastic on the lower part of the walls and footings to protect and waterproof it, and the footing drain wasn't in -- so we couldn't reach.  And they were still stripping the forms off the inside walls.   (I think I ruined my shirt because I got some of the mastic on it...)

For those not inclined to watch on YouTube, here's the state of the project.

All exterior windows and doors are on order and scheduled to be delivered beginning of October.

Framers and lumber package are scheduled for this Tuesday!

KnArrow Haus sprouts foundation walls

Since it's a holiday weekend, I figured I should take my trip up to see progress on Saturday afternoon to avoid traffic. I still managed to hit some coming in to Monroe due to the Evergreen State Fair, and then again clogged up before the first traffic light in Sultan. But otherwise no issues.

When I arrived, I was pleased to see the foundation wall forms rising from the footings, and a small crew of 2 there working. Looks like a tentative pour sometime mid-/late- this coming week!  I've opted to spend the money to include an admixture to the concrete to make it less absorbent of water.  Much of the basement is below grade, and for 6+ months of the year it will also have snow against it. I just hate musty smelling basements, and I want to make sure this cabin's basement doesn't smell like a "cabin".

I have to say, it's very gratifying to see something (even though it's still only forms) start to rise from the dirt. Starting feel more "real".

Standing in the street looking North.

Standing at the South East corner of the lot looking North.

Standing at the bottom of my neighbor's stairs looking West.

Standing near the Northeast corner of the cabin looking West.

Standing near the Northwest corner looking Southeast.

Looking North at what will be the garage door.

I also brought my drone up thinking I might use it to go down and inspect Nason Creek in more detail. But truth be known, I chickened out.  But here's the resulting video showing a higher-level view.  (Not as satisfying, but hey, I didn't crash the drone.)