Installing loft floor, July 7, 2010

Yesterday we started installing the loft floor. It is about 1,080 square feet of tongue and groove 2 X 6's. Today we finished all but the last 4 boards. We ran out of material, We will pick up what we need to finish in the morning. We also built all the parts for the roof system the last few days. Tomorrow we will finish the rest of the parts, plan out the height of every pole, and drill the holes in the posts and the top logs for the 3/4" rebar. This is my nephew Steve, worn out after building the floor.

July 4th, a day off!

Today, my nephew Steve and I took a day off and went fishing up in the mountains above Wisdom, Montana. We went with my cousin Jim Hendrickson, and a friend, Jerry Phillips. Steve caught his first trout. It was a great ride to get to the lake on 4 wheelers and a dirt bike. We brought home 16 trout, and did a catch and release on a few others. Fish can be very slippery!

Wall logs completed, July 2, 2010

Friday we completed the wall logs. The final count was 15 and one half rounds. The longs walls are now 12 feet high. The floor of the loft is about 9 feet above the main floor.

The end logs have been flattened on top to accept the uprights that hold the ridgepole and the purlins, and to give us flat surfaces to frame in the gables. I also flattened two sides of the ridgepole on Saturday. This allows the TGI's (rafters) to be secured in a uniform manner. Monday we will flatten one side of each purlin, and one side of each deck log. The deck logs rest on the top of the tallest deck posts and will support the roof over the deck. We will then prepare the uprights that will be placed on the end walls to support the ridgepole and the two purlins on both ends. There will also be uprights in the center of the ridgepole and each purlin. These will be supported by other uprights right down to the basement floor.

The plan is to have all the roof system parts completed by this coming wednesday and get a crane in on Friday to lift everything into place. At this point, the log work for the house will be complete, and I can begin installing the roof, the soffits, and frame in the end gables.

The plan is to install three dormers on the roof. One dormer will be in each upstairs bedroom, and one will be in the open area between the two bedrooms. This may end up as a bathroom in the loft at some point.

I also plan to install the loft subfloor this week to give us a working platform when we install the roof system.