July 23, 2012 editor1 Construction, Framing

Framing Continues

OK… this is going to be a really short post. We are on our way to pick up our boys from Mom and Dad’s, but wanted to post a photo of the progress thus far. We have done several short walls, and have most of the wall between the house and garage cut and ready for assembly. The hoist works really well on shorter sections of wall… we even lifted the laundry room wall with the window over the water supply line without any difficulty. We had a bit of delay this morning due to a little rain. We spent some time covering all the wood and getting tools out of the rain, but soon were able to continue.

July 22, 2012 editor1 Construction, Framing

Hoisting the First Wall

Since we decided to do as much of the framing as we can ourselves, the question about how to lift those heavy wall sections came into play. We decided to try out the use of our engine hoist with an extension to see if we can get some mechanical help. Thinking that we’d like to try it out on a small section of framing first, we used it very successfully on a small section of wall on the front of the house. After preassembling the wall section on the concrete pad, we were able to lift it into place using our engine hoist, positioning the wall onto the foundation bolts and then securing it with braces.

Before lifting the wall into place, we put down a bit of caulk and foam sill sealer.

Then, using our engine hoist, we lifted the wall section into place…

For a larger wall section, however, additional support must be made to the frame so that the top plate does not come apart due to the weight of window headers, etc.

(hmmm, do you think this is the sad voice of experience?)

July 20, 2012 editor1 Construction, Framing, Uncategorized

Framing the First Wall

With quotes as high as $14,500 to frame the house (excluding lumber and material and we already have the roof trusses orderd and paid for) we decided to frame the first floor ourselves. Depending on how it goes we are looking at using a sub-contractor to set the trusses, frame out the room above the garage and add roof sheathing. Rather than using hammer and nails we decided to purchase a framing gun. I purchased a low-end Porter and Cable 30degree framing nail gun. The old compressor I had just was not up to the task so I also purchased a 10 gal. compressor. Granted, these are costs for things I may not use often, but with the massive savings from DYI, we will be well under budget.

We spent the better part of the morning poring over different framing books again to get it right. I drafted a diagram for laying out the different types of windows and doors with measurements for all the studs, jack studs, cripple studs and sill plates. Since the types of windows are few, most of the rough openings will be similar. We are following standard convention for laying out the top and bottom plates, and marking openings and stud positions. By laying out the top and bottom plates at the same time, we will make fewer mistakes. We are using 116 5/8″ wall studs to frame a 10′ ceiling height. These arrived pre-cut and will save much time for us. All we have to do is layout the plates,cut jack and cripple studs, cut headers and nail it all together. Once we got our stuff all in one bag and actually started the layout, it went rather quickly, except for the “new” compressor which does not work automatically. When the pressure drops below the dialed setting, it is supposed to kick on and bring the pressure back up. It would not do so, so I have to take it back. It slowed our progress so we did not actually finish the first wall. The enclosed images show our progress. Once we have our equipment working, we should be able to make rapid progress.

July 20, 2012 editor1 Construction

Framing Lumber Delivered

This week we checked everyone’s prices for framing lumber and materials and evaluated services, lumber return policy and service. We selected a local company, Roswell Do it Center, to provide our lumber and framing materials. We set up a draw account to obtain contractor discount on materials and scheduled our first lumber delivery for Friday. We will frame the exterior walls first, then the interior partitions. THis way we will only have the minimum of lumber required on site. More lumber clogs up the site and the longer it sits, the more prone it is to warping and damage.

We prepared the back porch by aligning the 2×6’s from the form boards. The lumber arrived on a large truck and the driver used the fork lift to position it on our scrap wood. This way the wood will sit on a level surface, off the ground and will not sit in pooling water (like it ever rains here :-)), and it will not warp as much as sitting on the uneven ground.

July 20, 2012 editor1 Concrete

Porch and Patios Poured

We’ve decided there is a direct correlation between concrete pouring on our homestead and rain. As with the main foundation pour, the night before the pouring of our porch and patio, we got a heavy rain. As with the main foundation, there was no problem caused by the rain… We wanted to pour the porches and patio before the framing so that we would have that complete before framing out the large overhang on the back side of the house, which will require load-bearing pillars.

Here is a little photo of back porch area after the pour:

July 18, 2012 editor1 Orchard

Tree Update

For any readers who remember how our pecan trees looked when they were first transplanted, here are a few photos of the progress of their growth after two months. The photos were taken July 12:

I’m also including a couple of photos of the nectarine and peach trees that are thriving… and a shot of a bird’s nest in one of the trees. We also planted some calendula under each pecan tree… we expect beautiful flowers soon.

We have modified the watering schedule to three times/day for each tree. As the trees become more established, we’ll go to less frequent, but very deep waterings.

July 15, 2012 editor1 Orchard

Bartlett Pears

OK… to be fair, this isn’t exactly on the Homestead, but yesterday I helped pick 4 bushels of Bartlett Pears from my parents’ tree.

For the past few days, we have been trying the pears to see if they easily detach from the tree when moved sideways from the stem. Yesterday morning, after a quick trip to the (somewhat disappointing) local farmer’s market, the pears snapped right off the tree, showing us that it was time to harvest.

From an article sent to me by a very good friend, we learned that the pears should be ripened in a specific way to optimize texture and taste. So… after picking all the pears we could reach, we will be chilling them for two days in the coldest part of the refrigerator, then letting them ripen for 5-7 days in Mom’s basement. After that, we’ll be canning, making jams and fruit leathers and eating them fresh.

Here’s a photo of almost the entire harvest (1/2 bushel was already in a neighbor’s basement):

July 13, 2012 editor1 Construction, Foundation

Completed Slab

Here is a panorama of he completed slab about 30 minutes before the concrete workers departed. The form boards are still in place and we were going to wait a day before pulling the forms off.

POUR PANO — The monolithic slab is completed!

July 12, 2012 editor1 Foundation

Pouring the Slab Foundation

After several weeks’ worth of preparation (I had no idea there was so much involved before we did this ourselves), the foundation pour happened! Two nights before the pour (Sunday evening), we got a wonderful heavy rainfall. We were concerned at first that it might do damage to the trenches, but all was well. Our concerns over the muddy road were also unfounded.

Then Monday evening, we got another heavy rainfall (have I mentioned that we have not had any rain since May prior to this?). Again, we were concerned over the road conditions and the possible damage to the trenches. At 5:05 a.m., the subcontractor who would be doing the actual pour pulled into our drive. He said all was well with the road and the trenches, so the pour was on! Soon after, his son, cousin and two other workers arrived. At just after 6:00 a.m., the first concrete truck arrived.

Pouring the house portion of the slab...

They began with the footers, starting with the wall between the house and garage. Since there is a step-down between house and garage, that portion needed to dry a bit before the lower garage level would be poured. Pouring it first allowed the braces to be removed before the garage pour.

The subcontractors worked really well together and did a great job. If you are interested in getting concrete work done in SE New Mexico, we would highly recommend them (Samuel Castro 575-420-6615). We were also very happy with the service offered by Roswell Ready Mix (575-622-1186) . They have a large fleet of trucks and were able to handle the timing required for a good steady supply of concrete for the subcontractor.

We chose to have 3000 psi concrete plus the added fiberglass to add more strength to the foundation. Since we are considering doing a concrete floor stain, we want to try to avoid even small surface cracking as much as possible.

July 11, 2012 editor1 Foundation, Plumbing

Plumbing Dab-outs

In order to protect the plumbing from the concrete during the pour, after the pipes for Showers, Toilets and Bathtubs are cut to 1/2″ below the finished surface, sealed with duct tape and then protected with cardboard. For the toilet drains, three layers of cardboard is fitting around the PVC and one layer of cardboard is cut to size for the top. For shower and tub drains, a cardboard box is cut to the correct height, filled with filldirt and sealed shut. A small amount of fill dirt is placed on the box flaps to hold its position. This allows the concrete to be poured and smoothed right over the tops of these drains. After the pour, the openings can be accessed by chipping away the small amount of concrete on the tops.