August 30, 2018 – Today Lowe’s delivered the balance of the floor framing lumber. The delivery included the remaining ledger boards, edge beams, rim joists and all the porch addition floor joists.
Even though the delivery was rather late, after the lumber arrived I started installing the first section of the porch floor joists. At the end of the day I had about 8 or 9 joists in place. Tomorrow will be more of the same, porch addition floor joists.
Sadly, I broke the handle of my favorite framing hammer. This is the same hammer I used to build my house.
Hopefully I will find a good replacement.
Lowe’s truck leaving after the floor framing lumber delivery.The porch floor framing lumber pile.Framing the 1st section of porch addition floor joists.I broke the handle of my favorite framing hammer!Near the end of the day.
August 18, 2018 – After a quick trip for lumber, some sawing and hammering, and voila, kitchen floor framing complete! The addition is now starting to take shape.
So far I am am very happy with the concrete work. Although the pictures are deceiving and the framing is not conventional the floor is perfectly level. It should also meet the existing floor elevation once we finish it off.
We also managed to get some more of the limestone spread in the area under the porch addition. 3/4 of the way done! Once we have the sub-grade stone complete I will begin the porch floor framing.
Kitchen addition floor framing continues.Kitchen addition floor joists in progress.All but one of the kitchen addition joists are set.Solid 2 × 10 bridging at the kitchen addition.Elevated shot of the kitchen floor framing and the stone under the porch addition.
August 12, 2018 – To dress up the area under the kitchen and porch addition we placed landscape fabric. On top of this will go 2″ of limestone. This will serve to keep us out of the mud while framing. It will also keep the weeds from growing under the porch in the future.
With the landscape fabric in placed I continued floor framing with a ledger board under the living room door. The new ledger boards are secured by drilling completely through the existing oak beams. They are bolted from the underside of the cottage with hot dipped galvanized bolts. It’s a little freaky crawling under the cottage. The dreaded Polyphemus moth caterpillar, spiders, hellgrammites, black snakes, copper heads…….I did smell cucumbers!
Late afternoon we got everything all cleaned up and ready for next weekends stone delivery. Plus we did a sneak peek review of the new siding and roof colors. There will be more on that selection later. Stay tuned….
Sub-grade preparation with landscape fabirc.Ledger board under living room door.Hot dipped galvanized bolts underneath the cottage.Hot dipped galvanized bolts underneath the cottage.Polyphemus Moth CaterpillarLedger board under living room door.Ledger board along the living room.Sub-grade landscape fabric prep and floor framing.Color samples for the new siding and roofing.
August 5, 2018 – The kitchen floor framing continued today. The heat index was 102 degrees but it was so humid that the puddles were not even drying up. I was taking it very slowly.
The existing Cot-Taj-Mahal is built on rough cut 2″ × 6″ solid oak beams. I didn’t want to place a lot of additional load on the structure so we poured a line of footers and piers as close to the existing wall as we could. As a result, along the kitchen, I have to transition from a 6″ beam to an 8″ ledger and then to a new 10′” beam. As expected, nothing is square. Gotta love 65 year old structures!
Before I can go any further with the ledger board installation I need to demo part of the frost wall under the living room door. I’m hoping I can cut it with a concrete saw.
Overview of the floor framing at the new kitchen addition.Here we transition from a 2 by 6 beam to a 2 by 10 beam. We have 2 by 8 joists in between.We have 2 by 8 joists in between.Parking lot view of the floor framing at the new kitchen addition.
August 4, 2018 – This morning we made a run out to the Lewistown Lowe’s for treated lumber to start the floor framing. Yesterday I did a quick takeoff for the lumber I needed to start the floor framing along the kitchen addition. I was anxious to get started with the ledger boards while I had help. Unfortunately when we got back we discovered that the power was out. Son of a bitch!
I called in the power outage to Pennelec. After a short time they returned the call with a status update. It was anticipated that the power would come back on by 1:30 PM. My help could only stay until ,noon so that pretty much shot a hole in my plans!
With the power out I decided to strip the last pier manually with an old time screwdriver and a ratchet. I had to bail the hole out several times but I got it stripped and backfilled.
At 1:05 PM the power came back on. Ahead of schedule, imagine that. The rest of the afternoon I managed to get a small portion of the floor framing completed along the kitchen addition.
Taking apart the last pier form with no electricity.The forms from the last concrete pier are stripped.This was our first load of treated lumber for the floor framing.The first ledger board for the new kitchen floor.Ledger boards for the new kitchen floor.Ledger boards, band joist and beam at the new kitchen floor.The first band joist and beam for the new kitchen floor.
August 3, 2018 – Got to the Cot-Taj-Mahal around mid-day. The backyard was flooded, the side yard was flooded and the front yard was flooded. Once again, the rain from the previous week left a muddy mess.
The last concrete pier was filled to the brim with ground water. There were three of four frogs sunbathing along the edge. When I approached they all dove in for a swim.
After exposing some more of the existing floor beams along the kitchen, I decided to just chill out and enjoy the day without slopping around in the muddy mess.
Later in the evening, I had dinner and a few drinks at Wingman Brew N Que. That seems to be our new Friday night haunt. I tried a new beer, Field Trip Series Pineapple Mango by Short Bus Brew House from McClure, Pa. It was pretty good.
On the way back to the cottage I made a stop at Angelo’s Italian Restaurant. Chris who works there makes wonderful Whoopie Pies in all sorts of flavors. He gave me a a few of his new Blueberry-Banana to take with me and that was it for the day.
Rain, rain go away, please come back another day!The last concrete pier filled with ground water.Solid Oak double 2 inch by 6 inch rough cut floor beams with 1 inch rough cut floor planking.Field Trip Series Pineapple Mango by Short Bus Brewhouse, McClure, Pa. at Wingman Brew N Que.
