Completing the Final Framing
This week we began by laying out the bottom plate for the second floor walls. Rather than laying out the entire
wall on the floor and nailing it together then standing it up, these walls had to be built in place. This was
necessary because the top plate of the walls are angled and had to be installed above the beam and purlin
system.

The changes we made in the floor plan basically eliminated one half bath, enlarged the guest bath and added a
walk in closet. We also eliminated two smaller closets on the other end of the guest bedroom which really were
too small to be of much use.
Here you can see the opening for the walk in closet. If you notice there is no header above the door. There will
be no door on this closet so no header is required.
This wall is now complete. You can see the openings for the walk in closet (far end) and the guest bath.
You can see in this shot that the shower (a one piece fiberglass unit) has been temporarily set into position.
This unit is 3' x 4' and can not fit into the bathroom once the door opening has been framed. We had to do the
same thing in the master bath on the first floor for the same reason. Both units will have a fiberglass top
installed prior to finishing the tongue and groove.
We decided to build in a book case above the air return rather than waste this space. This only took a few
minutes to do and will be useful and well worth the time spent framing it.
This shows the completed framing on the second floor as seen from the great room down stairs. The bedroom
wall is inset to give about a quarter inch reveal between the beam and purlin and the tongue and groove. This
will be more easily seen once the tongue and groove boards have been installed.
With the second floor framing complete we turned our attention to the kitchen island. The wall will mount
several cabinets in an "L" shape and will provide a lot of storage and additional counter space.
The island long side is just about 10 feet long and will have a built in book case at the far end for the "boss's"
cook book collection.
Once the studs are in place a top plate is installed and leveled. After the cabinets are installed the counter top
will be installed and will hang over the end of the wall a couple inches on the long side and about 8 inches on the
short side. This will provide knee room on the short side for a couple of stools between the two 8" x 8" posts.
With the island wall finished the framing is now 99% done. We will have a little to do when some of the tongue
and groove is installed but for all intense and purposes framing is now complete.
Check back soon.


That's it for another week. We didn't get quite as far as we wanted this
week because on Friday our daughter-in-law gave birth to a baby girl.
This meant that 33% of the building crew was busy at the hospital with
his wife. Next week the new grand parents will start the electrical
rough-in.