05 January 2012

Main Floor Framing

We're nearly there!  It's been an almost non-stop adventure during the holidays, but we've just about completed the framing of the main floor of our house.  Here's how things looked, glowing in a glorious Idaho sunset:


May I just say how blessed we've been in our weather?  We'd never have accomplished all this in two weeks without the weather cooperating.  Even the one storm we had didn't cause any lasting problems.

During the week after Christmas, we framed the exterior walls.  It was just Mr. Pickup and I with our older children helping occasionally to lift those heavy 2x6 walls.  (Sorry, I kept forgetting my camera to take photos).  We met our goal of getting all the exterior walls up by New Year's Eve!  Starting bright and early Monday January 2, and with help from a brother, we got the main garage walls up.


We'd put some of the interior walls up to help support the exteriors, but there were still a lot to do.  Friday I'd cut most of the top and bottom plates, just in time for a storm to roll through.  Thankfully we didn't lose any walls!


Tuesday was spent putting up the remaining interior walls.


Here are some more fun photos for you perusal:



Yesterday with my father-in-law's help, we put up the second top plates which tie all the walls together and finished the framing on the garage.


We just need to put in the stairs, door headers, and a few short walls that won't affect truss placement, and we're ready for a roof.  Thankfully, our contractor is taking care of that!  We'll now go back and finish framing the remaining basement walls.  Once the roof is on, we'll be ready to start roughing in the electrical and have the HVAC folks and plumber do their stuff.  Here's a parting look at our amazing view from the front window.


Thank you for all your encouragement.  It's so nice to have cheerleaders!

You can see a round up of our house building adventure HERE.

20 comments:

  1. Wow!! You guys are really trucking right along!!

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  2. It's really coming along! You guys have worked so hard. And that view is breathtaking - no wonder you're so excited about it!

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  3. It's looking great Chris!! That is so exciting!

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  4. So glad to see you are back! Happy New Year! You have been so fortunate with the dry weather and have come so far... and the fabric doll house you stitched for you daughter is adorable and so fitting as well. I will look up the book you modelled some of the details after - my girls would enjoy it I suspect.

    I look forward reading about you making your house into a home in 2012. Blessings to you all!

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  5. unreal. you are building a HOUSE with your own two hands. did you ever imagine you would do something like this? i'm in awe.

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  6. you're doing an amazing work. I find it curious that you build your houses with wood. Here in Europe it's rarely used to make a building structure.

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  7. So cool to see the progress! This winter has been perfect for house building! It looks like you are doing a great job! I can't imagine how much work and effort this must be. It will be worth it!!!

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  8. Wow, that is amazing what you guys got done! Seriously, I couldn't imagine doing all that, I commend you guys, wow. The view is just spectacular, Happy New Year Chris, I can see it is going to be a productive one for you guys!

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  9. @AllisonThanks, Allison. I am so glad to have that big job behind us!

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  10. @celesteCeleste, this is actually the third house we've built with our own hands. I can email the whole story sometime if you want. :)

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  11. Yay! That is awesome. You guys are amazing. What an adventure and really a treasure to remember some day.

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  12. thank you so much for your crazy8 suggestion, i'll check it out. Tone

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  13. Hooray for meeting your goal! Everything is coming along nicely, Chris. GORGEOUS GORGEOUS view! We've had unusually beautiful weather in NY too. Usually we're buried in snow by now but it's been 50/60 degrees & sunny. Had the littles out on their PowerWheels yesterday! Crazy...but I'll take it!

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  14. So glad to stop by and see all this progress, Chris! Yay!!! Looks like 2012 is off to a great start :)

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  15. WOW! Looks like it's going to amazing! Congratulations to you! I can't wait to see the rest of the building process. It's so fun to watch the progress of a BIG project like this!

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  16. it's starting to look like a house! yay!

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  17. isnt' it great that Mother Nature is cooperating? you guys are really motoring now!

    i can't get over the views. SOOOOO envious! I guess this means I'll just have to drop by for a visit one day. :)

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How sweet of you to stop by. Kind words are always welcome.