Several folks have asked me to post in color instead of B&W. While I was trying to do something a bit artistic, the main purpose of the site is information, so color it is!
Tuesday November 8th, What an incredible day.
For the last 11 months as Julie and I have planed our home, reviewed and revised floor plans, we have walked through our house only in our imagination. We have envisioned the views from the window locations and doors though much discussion and many sleepless nights.
Today, for the first time we can visualize the openings as they are. The entire first floor of Herons' House was framed and stood up today. Not one or two walls, but the entire first floor! I was lucky to be there this morning before my office hours, to see the first few walls go up. Jakes bedroom wall was the first to go up.
The house is framed in 2 by 6 as opposed to the traditional 2 by 4 construction. Although we could have used 2 by 4 construction, we choose 2 by 6 because it is far more structural, has better insulation properties, and generally, it takes the termites longer to eat the house. Ok that was a bit of a joke. Some of the principles of green building include better insulation and a longer life span of the structure. The 2 by 6 framing gives us that. Yes it is more expensive to be sure, but over the long life of the house, its peanuts.
The speed and precision of the framers was amazing. All the headers and trimmers were cut yesterday so today was a process of assembly and standing the walls. Tomorrow will be plumb and line, Thursday will be joist, Friday will be sheeting. In less than three weeks the entire house will be framed, three more weeks for detail work and then we turn it over to the dry wallers!
The home building has been like clockwork so far. I thank the craftsman and subcontractors working on Herons' House for their professionalism and attention to safety and detail.
As a man who has, of one his dreams, dreamed of building his own house his whole adult life, this was a very special day, I am thankful and blessed to be sharing this journey with my wife Julie.
Dreamers are only dreamers, until reality is viewed from the window of a dream, Stretch, dream, fearlessly express your creativity. When a dream becomes life, living becomes far richer. Peder
