March Pictures

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The Norman Cottage - Kewadin Michigan

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More rafters.

Thursday March 30, 2006 - We have started the rafters at the tub room and the dining room at this time.

         

The rafters over the dining room.

         

The orange color rafter is the first beam to be placed at the side of the ridge skylights. 

         

The tub room rafters are also started.

 

The rafters are set up as a template first to make sure they work.  after that we are cutting all the rafter for each area and then placing them on the walls.

Another wonderful day in Northern Michigan.

 The rafters have started.

Wednesday  March 29, 2006 - We are working on a variety of things but the major item is the placement of the roof rafters.

         

The beams are in place as the master bedroom area.

         

         

The floor of the deck at the master bedroom is framed and we are getting ready to complete that framing.

   

A rafter is cut to form a template first.  This allows us to make minor adjustments to the roof line as needed.  After the template is cut then the balance of the rafters are cut to match.

 

The Ridge Beam being placed!

Monday March 27, 2006 - The ridge beam for the living room and dining/kitchen is in place.  Check out the steps that are needed to get it 18"-0" into the air.

The ridge beam being placed at the top of the wall and the second floor line.  Once its in place here, we then build guides to get the beam into the proper location and assure that its going to stay there. 

First thing this morning Jeff and Chris raised the beam up to the second floor using the metal jack posts.  Once its in place, Jeff built glide posts to keep the beam in place as its lifted into position.

Jeff working the chains and the jack post on the beam.    Each side is lifted egually to make sure that it stays level.  Almost there!!!

The jack posts are raised equally on each end to keep the beam as level as possible.

The beam is in place. We then fasten it in place and the skylight beams will be the next thing that will be placed.  View from the kitchen/dining area.

After a bit of work and lots of time making sure everything is ok the beam reaches its destination 18'-0" above the floor of the living room.

More walls and more stairs.

Friday March 24, 2006 - We are working on the balance of the second floor walls and getting everything ready to start the roof framing.

The view looking towards the shower and vanity space of the master bathroom.  The beams that are on each side of the master bedroom are cantilevered to hold the roof over the covered deck.  you can see the ridge beam that we are going to use at the ridge of the living room.  Jeff working on one of the beams.    The view to the lake from the Master Bedroom.

The beams at the Master Bedroom are being placed.  They are cantilevered off the wall to support the covered deck at the Master Suite.

  Howard working in the basement on the stairs.    Part of the roof material is now onsite and ready to be place next week!!    a close up of the ridge beam that is being placed.

Howard is working hard at building the lower level stairs.  We also received the roof material today so a reworking of the site was needed to get the material in place.  The Ridge Beam for the living room is 34" long.....and only 1000 LBs!!  More lifting on Monday!!!

Chris is still trying to get over that State was knocked out in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. I have to say I am too. :(

Chris is happy that its Friday!!!!

The Stair to the second floor is placed!!

March 23, 2006 - The stair to the second floor is in place and looks great!

The second floor stair is placed and looks great!!!         

The floor framing continues above the Porch area.  This is the limits of the Master Bedroom above.

       

The treads on the stairs are place "loose" so that they can be removed after the construction is completed.  They take alot of abuse as you can imagine.

 

The Second Floor framing

March 21, 2006 - We have started the framing of the second floor and the placement of the "I" joist into place.

A look down into the shower at the barrier free bath.  The joist are all place on the second floor walls flat to create a platform to work off. They are then put into place.  A view down into the living, Kitchen and the Study area.      The floor over the lower level.

The house is taking shape.

    The first second floor wall gets put in place. We use what is called a wall jack to help lift the wall into place.      The upstairs is taking shape.

The first second floor walls are place on the new floor.

     

As you look at the house from all views. 

 

Its a Beam Raising experience!!

March 20, 2006 - We have started the second floor framing and joist layout.  With this the beams need to be placed over the Porch room.  These are very heavy and Jeff has the way to make them go in place without breaking our backs.

Jeff and Howard reviewing the beam pocket.    The "A" frame that makes everything work the way that it needs too.    The beam pocket and the blocking below. There is alot of weight of the floor and the second floor that come down at this location. 

Leverage is the key.  With the "A" frame apparatus, we are able to lift the beam into the pocket that has been built into the wall.

The second beam is in place.  There are hangers that are placed to connect the two beams together. 

The last beam is placed and the grid work for the second floor is complete.

The Interior Wall framing

March 17, 2006 - The Interior walls of the main floor are placed and the shape is set.  The walls are hard to decipher....but bottom line is that the plan works well.

Thats us....!! We are WoodCraft and we Love it!!!  The second floor framing has been delivered and we are getting ready to start.  The lake side of the house. You can see the tall window of the living room and the shape of the porch area.    view looking toward the Study.   Looking from the Porch towards the entry side of the house.

The framing package for the second floor was delivered and waiting for the beginning of next week when we start that.  You can see the walls of the main floor are placed and the rooms have been defined.

Looking at the fireplace location in the Porch.   Looking from the Barrier Free Bath thru the shower to the Beach Bath.    Looking from the Entry towards the bedroom and bathrooms. The stair is on the right side.  Standing in the Kitchen looking towards the Entry.  Looking towards the Living room from the Dining/Kitchen.

Next.....we start the second floor framing.

Hope all is well in New Zeeland!!

Window Finish has begun

March 16, 2006 - The windows are being sanded and then the first coat of sealer is being placed on them in a dust controlled environment.

  The sanding process is a long one. Each window sash is cleaned and then sanded down 100%. After its sanded its then cleaned again to go to the spray booth.     

The window frames are sanded before they are sealed.  After they have been sanded they are then placed into the spray booth.

  The windows are then blown off with air to remove the balance of the dust before the finishing starts.  The spray process of the finish is then started.

The windows are placed and then sprayed.

After the windows have been sprayed with a coat of finish, they are then placed in the drying racks.

After they have been sprayed they are placed on drying racks and the process will start over again to get to the final product.

www.advptech.com

Thanks to Advanced Painting for all their great work.

More Framing

March 10, 2006 - Today we finished putting up the exterior walls of the first floor.  The next step is to start placing the interior walls of the main floor.

Looking into the guest bedroom. You can see the windows and the placement.     Looking west towards the lake thru the doors of the Porch.  Howard and Jeff working on the wall layout of the interior walls.  The entry door walking up to the entry side of the house.

 

We are going to complete the framing of the house before we start on the framing of the detached garage.  This gives us the room to work around the garage at this time.

Windows are in and being prepared

March 9, 2006 - The windows have been delivered and they have started the preparation process.  The first step is to take the windows apart and mask of the aluminum frame.  

The windows are set up in part of the shop that will be closed off when the finishing starts.      The window sash ( the operating part of the window) are all stacked along the wall getting ready for prep.    Each window is taped off and papered so that the finish doesnt get on the frame or the glass that cannot be removed from the frame.

The paintshop is next to our wood shop in TC.  Advanced Painting does a great job with interior and exterior finishing of windows as well as trims, finish interiors and exterior finishes.

     

The next step after the windows have been taped off is that the first coat of sealer will be applied.

The Main Floor walls have begun!!!

March 7, 2006 - The main floor walls started Monday and the process is going to be a challenging one.  All the wall heights are different, from area to area, and they all have to be set based on the pitch (angle) of the roof line.

the stairs are cut and we will be placing them into the opening to the lower level soon.  We are leaving the OSB solid to block the winds of the water. The get very cold this time of year.    The wall heights at all set based on the pitch of the roof.  The headers are all hollow and we will be placing insulation in this opening before the windows are placed.  Each header is made of a Lamininated Veneer Lumber product. Know as LVL.

      You can see the location of the windows for the den. The heights are different for each.    The opening to the lower level is in place and the stair will be placed soon.

      Part of the material to be used on the house. 

The wall framing will take a while to complete before we get into the roof framing.  The heights of the walls of the house are set at an approximate and will be set to the correct height after the rafters are placed.

The Floor Deck

March 4, 2006 - The main floor deck is installed and we are getting ready for the walls to start.

We have left the OSB sheating over the windows to block the wind and the snow from getting into the lower level      The tub recess deck has been installed   

 

From this we are waiting on the walls to start on Monday.