|
|
Completing the Downstairs Walls
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
This week began with the delivery of our 500 gallon propane tank. The line to the house was completed last
week and the green sticker on the pipe coming up from the ground is evidence that it passed inspection.
|
|
This is no job for amatures. The tank has to be hooked up properly and leveled correctly to work efficiently.
These two guys spent nearly 3 hours getting everything right.
|
|
While the tank was being installed we continued work on the remaining walls in the downstairs section of the
house. Wherever an interior wall intersects a log wall it is connected with lag bolts every other log course. One
note here.... when the "boss" was sanding the beams she also sanded the top log course between them. In this
shot you can see the difference between the natural color of the logs and the yellow color provided by the sun.
All the walls will be sanded prior to being coated with polyurethane in a few weeks.
|
|
Here you see the wall completed. This is part of a half bath and also serves to frame in the air conditioning
return duct.
|
|
Here is a better view of the air return duct. Because of the position of the floor joists and the second floor
beams the duct had to be angled in order to fit within the space allotted.
|
|
Another project was to complete the framing for the master bath shower. This is a fiberglass enclosure and will
include a dome top as well.
|
|
One picture we forgot to show last week was the octagon window in the master bathroom. The opening for this
window was cut at the factory and as you can see it fits almost perfectly. Later we'll add the inside and outside
trim which will seal the window from the weather.
|
|
We also completed the walls separating the utility room from the pantry and added a closet next to the garage
door.
|
|
|
On Tuesday our kitchen cabinet contractor measured for our cabinets. Because this wall is 2' on center he
asked us to install blocking to make it easier to attach the cabinets to the wall.
|
|
|
Blocking was installed in two areas to ensure a solid mounting surface for the wall cabinets.
|
|
While we were at it we installed blocking on all bearing walls throughout the first floor. This blocking adds a lot
of strength and quite a bit of stiffness to the studs which gives the entire structure a much more solid feel.
|
|
On Christmas Eve we completed the week by preparing for the construction of the stairs. Here you can see the
frame for a concrete pad in the crawl space. One set of stairs will lead down from the first floor and the bottom
will be mounted to this concrete pad rather than just lying on the dirt.
|
|
We used three bags of concrete for the pad and it was a simple job to mix it using an old wheelbarrow and a hoe.
|
|
Once the concrete was mixed properly it was poured into the mold and screeded smooth. We allowed it to dry
for a couple hours and then used a shop broom to "texture" the pad so if it ever gets wet it won't be slippery.
|
|
The final task for the week was to construct the closet and support for the main stairs that will lead to the loft.
|
|
Here you can see the closet from the other side. Inside the closet the back wall will be a door which will lead to
the crawl space. By doing it this way we have no exterior access to the crawl space which we felt was a security
risk.
|
|
