A short post with photos of the pillars and corbels that Oz is installing before they start the soffits:
Beams and Corbels Going in...Looks Pretty...Staining needed on short piece...Corner plumb line...Not bad planning for a rookie.
We think the stain looks great… still have more to do — probably another coat on all the pillars and then the clear coat on top. We were trying to hurry to get as much done before the pillars and corbels were put into place as possible… but we didn’t want to delay the guys who are putting on the trusses, decking and soffits.
In case you are interested in stains, chinking materials, deck protectors, etc., check out Mountain Home Building Products — excellent service and fast delivery.
We received our stain from Mountain Home Building Products very quickly and were able to get the beams stained on the ground before they were lifted into place. We like the look of them very much. We were very pleased with the stain and with the quick shipping. If you missed our post on choosing which stain to use, you can find it here.
The last job we had planned in preparation for the framing crew was to get all the porch support beams notched and ready for installation. The framing contractor has a lift that will allow putting them in place easily, so having them fitted and ready for installation was the plan.
After laying them out in place, they were cut to size. At each joint, a pillar with corbels will be placed below. Using a circular saw to start the cuts, and a hand saw to finish them (due to the massive size of the beams, the blade couldn’t reach the complete depth), the job was done.Closeup of joint between two beam sections
Beams laid on on the length of the back porchCorner jointImagine these beams in place about 10 feet up...
While I was busy in town (haircuts, canning and lawn-mowing), Oz was able to get the interior beams and posts into place. He used a standard drill, the impact drill, hand saw, circular saw, scaffolding and our fondly named “T-Rex” modified engine lift. Again, it proved helpful in getting the beam lifted into place without back strain or injury. In preparation for the project, the beam was cut to size and then notched so that it fit into the interior framing. After the notch was prepared on each end, the beam was attached to the corbels using 10″ wood screws. Support framing was built to fit into the interior framing to support the beam.
Tools Used for the job…Notched Beam and Corbel
T-Rex was then used to lift one side of the beam to the height of the scaffolding.
T-Rex lifting the beam
After the first side was set onto the scaffolding,
One end propped on scaffolding
the other side was lifted into place into the wall. Support framing was put into place beneath it. The process was duplicated at the other end, again using T-Rex.
Lifting top into place1st end in placeFinal lifting on other end…Vertical Box beam support in place
Once both ends of the beam were secure, the posts and their corbels were attached to the beam. Still to be done: drilling anchors for the posts into the concrete and covering the bolts with wooden dowels and sanding to match the surface.
