Made of Things Unseen: The House Project: The Framing

In my last post I showed the pouring of the foundations for both the master suite addition in the back of the house and the garage addition in the front. I thought the process was great fun to watch because for years we had had this idea of the two additions but all we could really do was put objects on the ground to kind of see where it would be. Once the slab was poured it really started to take shape. I could see how big and exactly where it was going to be.

The framing added to that. There were times where it just looked like a mess of lumber, but when they put the decking on you could actually see walls! This phase was where the rooms and the layout actually started to take shape!

First the lumber was delivered. When it’s all laid out on a huge trailer I couldn’t imagine all that going on my house! In an earlier post I talked about the demolition. We had several huge hauls off to the dump from all the demo (the part we did and the part we hired out). However, when it came time to do the framing, there was even more trash because the existing decking was removed, and the roof was taken off. The framers not only put in the addition, but they had to tie it into the existing roofline and redo the decking for the roof since we planned on replacing the roof with a metal one.

Here is the lumber!

It took up quite a bit of space in my yard!

Below are the early stages of framing. They started with exerior walls and the wall dividing the bedroom from the master bath. You can also see where the windows and doors will be.

In this picture you can see the 45 degree angle where the double french doors from the dining room to the back yard will go in. There is also a double set of french doors leading outside from the master bedroom.

Here you can see the cross beams they put in for temporary support. They stayed in until they had the roof framed out as well.

Now you can see one of the big header beams they put in over the patio doors!

Looking at the side of the house you can see where the old and new construction is tied in.

You can see the garage addition in front of one of the old doors. They tore out the other door to pour the slab. The header beam is above the entrance to the two main bays. The third bay is furthest away in the picture. It's hard to really see at this angle.

I was standing inside the garage for this picture. The third bay is to the right. You can see the big support beam they used in between the main two bays and the smaller third bay. I might add that the huge dumpster was filled up at least two or three times during the framing, and we hauled more trash to the dump in our truck! They made the mistake here of leaving the door open while they did the framing, and the truck that came to pick it up had to drag it out a ways so they could shut the door! The framers caught the problem just a little too late! Oops!

I posted the picture below to point out the hall bathroom that we remodeled. Here you can see the pink tile that was the middle of the bathroom. The newly framed wall to the left is sitting where the bathtub used to be. The wall to the right where the vanity was has been removed but you can see the plumbing where the wall used to be. Straight back you can kind of see the old exterior wall that held the bathroom window. The pile of dirt was removed from around the old tub drain, which you can't really see off to the left because we had filled it in. Basically, we took the tub out and moved the wall in to make more space in the dining room. That back wall has since been removed, and a new shower is at the end, extending into the addition. So the new bathroom is longer and more narrow.

Here the garage addition is finally taking shape with the rafters up!

I was standing inside the dining room here, looking directly toward the master bedroom entrance with the back patio entrance to the left at an angle.

At this point the framing is nearly finished. Before the put the decking on the roof Bruce went up and sprayed foam insulation onto the radiant barrier they put on the lower side of the rafters. You can see him on the roof! This house will be very well insulated!

This is a view from the back yard, a little further away so you can see more of the house.

This is looking into the addition toward the master bathroom.

Bruce was still working on the insulation here. He hired a guy to help him do it and that made a huge difference getting it done on time. They would start around midnight with the chemicals submerged in ice buckets. They had to be kept at a certain temperature, and even at night it wasn't quite cool enough, thus the ice. By the time the sun was up and it started getting hot each day he had to call it quits!