Building our new retirement place

[skyking1]

My reply was really intended to be tongue-in-cheek. We are in a rain shadow here.

 

[skyking1]

2nd floor subfloor is done, stairs done, balcony done. We are ready to rock and roll on the walls.

We'll block and finish this walkway Monday.

 

[pacergal]

Looking great!

 

[steady saver]

Such progress! That has got to be so exciting! Happy for you

 

[surprising]

I've been renovating one of my rentals and it has severe floor squeaks throughout. Our flooring guy went all around and screwed a bunch of screws all around and fixed a lot of it before putting in the new floor but didn't fix all of it, and it bothers me greatly. One of the main culprits of floor squeaks is just missing the floor joist when screwing in the plywood subfloor. The screw will move up and down next to the joist and squeak. If floor squeaks bother you like me, I would walk all around and make sure nothing squeaks, and also take a look and see if you see any screws that missed the joists.

 

[MC Rider]

Looks good Skyking. Looking forward to seeing the continued progress, and of course the finished product.

 

[skyking1]

I've been renovating one of my rentals and it has severe floor squeaks throughout. Our flooring guy went all around and screwed a bunch of screws all around and fixed a lot of it before putting in the new floor but didn't fix all of it, and it bothers me greatly. One of the main culprits of floor squeaks is just missing the floor joist when screwing in the plywood subfloor. The screw will move up and down next to the joist and squeak. If floor squeaks bother you like me, I would walk all around and make sure nothing squeaks, and also take a look and see if you see any screws that missed the joists.

Thank you.
I will be doing more than "taking a look" up under the subfloor.
I am installing hydronic heat loops so my head will be up there a whole lot
First you look for shiners ( a nail or screw that missed) then pull in the loops of 1/2" PEX and staple it up with aluminum shields.
Then Kraft foil backed paper across the joist caps.
Then a 4" thick batt of insulation to send that heat where you want it.
It will be a slow go as I have two repaired rotator cuffs and overhead is not my best thing. I suspect that my nephew will do most of it.
Since I am the general and all the trades, I get to set the order of march.
I will order the windows and roof metal in the next week or so and hope to get that installed by the end of January.
Hydronics.
Finish the HVAC, I have a huge head start on that.
Plumbing.
Wiring.

 

[skyking1]

we got a couple of wall sections up today and moving right along. My framer extrordinaire is cutting all the studs and laying everything out in packages on dunnage and I shoot it up to the guys with the telehandler. It goes quickly that way. Everything is cut and labeled, and he makes laminated drawings for the guys to work off of.
I put up secure railing on the balcony today. We will be using that space to get on the 2nd floor roof, stage the solar panels, etc. It gets toe boards tomorrow.

 

[skyking1]

I've been working on the backfill. I need to drive close to the east end here to reach the last beam in with the telehandler.
I am using pit run from the property, rather than the clay that came out. It is far more structural and forgiving. I am hand shading the foundation with 3/4 minus from the nearby pit and compact within about a foot of the wall with the hoe pack.

Tricky business under the cantilever and next to the downspout pipe.

The other 3 vertical pipes go to the footing drain below, they are for the window well and footing drains behind the stacked retaining walls. This is up to grade to pour that first wall and the floor of the window well.
I upsized that window in the well to 4x5. It will cast a lot of light into the corner of the basement.

 

[Hyper]

16.2" total rain this year
1.74" so far this month!

Sometimes, nothing worse than trying to build in the rain/ mud! Thank the great Lord, we have about 6" forest soil on top of mountain rock. NO Gumbo mud!
We did however hit a bit of marsh on our driveway. Seemed liked 100 ton of rock just for that area. Started with about 8" rock size for initial fill!

 

[street]

Looks great!! That is a lot of moisture and even that much would be too much for us. So, dry here for last two years it gets scary because of fire.

 

[skyking1]

My haul road went bad with the rains, I had to cut out 14"~16" of organics down to the river rock and then build it back up. It was still rutting due to the moisture content. Last thing I did Sunday was grade out the ruts and hoe pack it. It was pumpy but this kind of material heals up with time. It had 4 days to consolidate and drain out.

The empty truck did not leave a mark when I parked it today. It should be good to go now.

We built two walls, stood one, and the framer extraordinaire cut the bigger half of the rake wall and numbered and labeled it for the guys. it is there on the forks.
I put up safety and hand rail between supporting the crew.

 

[Janet H]

Wow! Huge progress, despite foul weather

 

[skyking1]

When I worked as the boom truck operator at the Seattle job, I brought home various materials that were heading for the dumpster. These 5 stainless handrails are an example. My wife has arthritis and climbing stairs is a challenge. I asked her today which hand she wanted to climb with and it was the left.
Pretty fancy temporary handrails

 

[skyking1]

We stood that straight wall, built the bigger rake wall and stood it with the telehandler.

Unfortunately that was the last productive thing the telehandler did
I got the other wall package on the forks and it started acting up. By the time I got to where I would shoot the package up, I had lost all hydraulic functions. It drives and stops and steers a bit weakly, but nothing from the pilot controls. The forks are stuck about 5' up and 4' out.
The timing is pretty bad; We have a 500 pound Glu Lam to set at the ridge and then all those joists and the sheeting. They will come look at it Monday.
We have hand works to do but that beam would be dangerous to mess with. The building is too tall to reach with the excavator.

 

[skyking1]

 

[skyking1]

Forklift down? Use alternate methods. That was about all I could get, maybe 3' to spare.

bearing walls are up and ready for the last beam.

 

[More Cowbell]

Fox or coyote?

 

[skyking1]

Coyote

 

[skyking1]

Joists are all up.

a cupola emerges

 

[street]

Very nice!!! Pretty soon you should have it all enclosed and dry.

 

[skyking1]

we put up the lookout ladders pictured here. Nice sketchup by my framer.

Easy ones

One hard one at the limits of reach from the lower level.

 

[skyking1]

We fixed all sorts of shiners and little patches of the zip sheathing while the framer built a those ladders one at a time.I got around 3/4's OK and I knew as soon as I stepped off the carport fill I'd be stuck, but we did it and got it pointed where we needed to and got it done.

Excavator standing by for recovery.

My nephew making it welcome for guests at the carport doorway.

Great candid shot of him taking off the tagline. He is so happy working with the guys up there. He had no idea I was taking a picture it just looks like it.

 

[street]

Outstanding!!

 

[skyking1]

despite a late start we almost got the whole thing sheeted today. The framer had pre-built the cupola on the ground so we sent up the pieces and he slapped it on.

You can see the edge of the work at the top of the picture. Just two rows of sheeting left, plus cupola lid and it is dried in.