By Matt
Construction continues in late December and early January. We mostly had a temperate December the temperatures plunged in January with some days not getting above zero. On the sixth of January, Max had a Lego Robotics tournament up in St. Paul that we had to get up early for. The thermostat was registering -21 degrees Fahrenheit on our drive. Despite this cold snap the framers worked almost every day.
Photo left above shows the sill plate and framing basement ceiling. The basement is only under approximately 1/3 of the house, while the rest will be slab on grade. The middle photo above shows stick framing of the first floor with openings for the large south facing windows. Photo right above shows OSB sheets applied to first floor above the basement area and the access stairwell to basement where mechanicals will be.
OSB sheathing was added to the first floor stick frame (photo above left) and then 2″ x 10″ rafters were placed and then sheathed with OSB to give us our first look at what our windows and view will be like (photo above middle). The photo above right shows the January noon time sun penetrating all of the way to the back of the house. We were not able to get the slab on grades (main floor and garage) poured before it got really cold out, so the house will be built out and then heated to thaw the ground so we can pour the concrete and have it set properly.
Then the second floor was stick built, sheathed in OSB and the entire structure wrapped with Tyvek house wrap as a bulk water barrier (photo above left). Looking up to the second floor (where the stair well will be) you can see the first of the double stud walls that have been built (photo above middle). It’s a staggered stud 2″ x 4″ wall with a 2.25 inch gap between the two sets of walls. This will give us extra room for insulation and stop most of the thermal bridging that can occur from inside to out through the studs. A great view from the second floor looking south onto our property (photo above right).
The one car garage (photo above left) was started. The 8/12 pitch roof trusses arrived and were crane lifted to the second floor. The middle photo above shows the east side of the house while the right photo above shows the west side of the house (where the front door will be).