360 Winnett » framing

It Looks Flat, But It's Not

jeremybell — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 05:26:31 +0000

We’ve obviously shied away from a traditionally pitched roof, however one common misconception about the house is that the roof is flat. While it definitely appears that way from the ground, it actually slopes away from the structure at around 2 degrees. It doesn’t seem like much, but it’s enough to keep the water moving and prevent it from pooling.

The slope is actually quite pronounced when you’re looking at the lower roof from inside the house (mainly because it simply slopes from one side to another). However, the upper roof is a different story altogether. The roof has 2 peaks (on both sids of the clerestory) with each sloping away in 3 different directions. I’m not 100% sure how the framers figure out the various angles (and it’s actually hurting my brain just thinking about it), but I went up on the roof this afternoon and was amazed how well it was assembled. We’ve had quite a lot of rain over the last few days, but other than a little frost (and the snow that was falling from the sky) it was essentially bone dry up there. Of course the plywood sheathing isn’t exactly watertight and I assume a lot of water simply washed through the cracks, but there definitely wasn’t any pooling up there. I’d say that’s a good sign, no?

We had originally considered a product called PosiSlope, which is described as a “factory pre-designed tapered roof insulation and drainage system”. It’s essentially a large foam puzzle that gets assembled on the roof, with pieces custom made based on your drawings. Compared to strapping out the roof and sloping by hand, it’s assembled and installed in a fraction of the time, plus it has an inherent R-value… which is an obvious plus. Of course, it’s also happened to exceed our budget by just a few dollars. Sigh.

The next step is waterproofing the roof, although I don’t know the exact approach we’re going to take yet. I assume it’ll be a torch-down solution of some kind, but I could be wrong. We’re also planning on covering the entire clerestory (top and sides) with Ice & Water Shield to ensure it’s completely watertight. Well, as watertight as it can be… I suppose nothing is 100%. Regardless, I’m becoming somewhat paranoid about the clerestory leaking and I want to do everything I can to ensure it stays nice and dry.

The Cost Of Water

jeremybell — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 04:10:54 +0000

We’ve made significant progress in the past week, although the sky opened up on Saturday and I fear the rain may slow us down over the next few days. Regardless, the walls are all up on the second floor and I managed to slip in over the weekend to snap a few pics. I actually visited the site a few days prior, although it was quite late (read: it was pitch black and I was using my iPhone as a flashlight), and not exactly the safe (read: the temporary stairs had been installed, but not the railing). Probably not the smartest of things to explore after dark, but I couldn’t resist going upstairs and having a walk around.

Now that the walls are up, we’ve realized that we want to mildly adjust the layout of the bathrooms and our closet area. Nothing too major, but we felt some of the walking areas are a little tighter than they should be. Other than that, everything is looking great. And I must admit, the framers are doing a fantastic job. Our contractor had insisted that they did great work, but thought for sure I’d be walking around each day with a level and measuring tape, ensuring everything was in order. After the first few days however, it became quite clear these guys knew what they were doing. If all goes according to plan, hopefully we’ll have the roof up before weeks end, and the windows in sometime next week. Given the temperature forecast, I think the timing might just work out.

Framing aside, I also stopped by Toronto Water Services this morning to pay for the reconnection fees. Prior to construction, the city didn’t charge us to come and disconnect the drainage and water supply. I didn’t really think much of it at the time, but I kept waiting to see a bill in the mail afterwards. Clearly the City understands that you’ll eventually need to reconnect everything, ‘cause they get you on the back end. The process was quite painless, although it was also quite expensive.

Drain Installation: $6750
Water Installation: $2175
Water Disconnect: $300
Sewer Disconnect: $650

“Other”: $660
Grand Total: $10,535

Yes, it costs over $10K to get new water services.

The racket here is that you can’t negotiate. You can’t shop around to find a more competitive price. The City gives you a price and they inform you which company will be doing the work. And that’s that. I can appreciate that the City needs to ensure that quality is controlled, but this just seems like extortion when compared to the other costs we’ll need to cover during the project. Purely from a cost:effort standpoint, the amount seems incredibly exorbitant… and don’t forget, we still need to account for hydro and gas reconnections.

Photo via Flickr User Chad Ingraham

Heavy Lifting

jeremybell — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 02:44:58 +0000

With the first floor more or less complete the framers have moved upstairs… however they didn’t get very far without first needing to move the final steel beams into place. I previously described the excavator as being large, but that puppy wasn’t anywhere close to the size and scale of the crane that showed up to move these beams.

The second floor has 3 steel beams, so the crane was in and out pretty quickly. I can’t say I was expecting it would have any trouble picking up the beams, but I honestly thought there would be move involved with it. A set of legs extend out from the base of the crane and then drop down to the ground. Supported by this wider base, the arm was extended out and the hook lowered. The workers simply tied a strap around a beam, connected it to the hook and hoisted it up.

Once the beams were properly installed, the framers were able to continue and they’ve more or less finished installing all the floor joists. It’s great to walk around the main floor and finally get a sense of how the rooms will actually feel. I was a little concerned that we made a mistake by raising the dinning room up a foot (the ceiling height is 8’ vs 9’ 2” in the kitchen), but I think it’ll be just fine now that I’ve actually been in there.

I’m expecting we’ll start to see the walls go up on the second floor… hopefully the weather cooperates.

Getting Framed

jeremybell — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 02:51:20 +0000

We had a few false starts, but we finally have walls. We started framing the first floor soon after the garage slab was completed, however we had to put things on hold while we waited for the various steel beams to be manufactured.

I must admit, I didn’t have an accurate appreciation for the amount of steel we were going to use in the house. There are 2 beams on the first floor, 1 that spans across the living room and another just in front of the kitchen. There are also 2 that will be used to cantilever the overhangs on the second story. We’ve got one extra, but I’m not entirely sure where it goes… I think it will run across the top of the living room, but I’d have to double check the structural drawings to be sure. Beyond the beams, we’re also expecting a number of columns that will be used throughout (I’m guessing they’ll be used to support the cantilever beams but again, I’m too sure at the moment).

The lumber company delivers each floor as an individual package, and I believe the second floor package will be arriving tomorrow. The guys are telling me that everything will be done in about 2.5 weeks from now, which seems tight but doable. So long as everything is done right, who am I to complain?

I also placed the window order last week, which covers everything but the front door and the clerestory. We haven’t made a decision on the door yet and we wanted to wait until the clerestory was framed before we ordered those windows (the large front window is a custom order, and we want to ensure it’s sized correctly). Apparently our order will be delivered in 2-3 weeks, so hopefully the timing will work out and they’ll arrive just as the framers are finishing up.

With the first floor is almost complete, it was quite satisfying to get in and walk around this afternoon. It was also quite satisfying to see just how large the windows and doors are going to be. I have a feeling we’ll be getting plenty of light in the house.

I snapped a few pics of the house this afternoon, which are available in the photo gallery

360 Winnett » framing

It Looks Flat, But It's Not

The Cost Of Water

Grand Total: $10,535

Heavy Lifting

Getting Framed