Movin' on up

As I mentioned in some of the earliest posts, once the project gets to the "wood" stage, things become a lot more predictable.  Back when we were dealing with earth and concrete the weather, the soil, the unknowns underground played a very big role in determining how much we could get done in any given week.  Those were tough days emotionally because it was largely out of my control and a new setback could be hiding under any spot of dirt.

Now we've been out of the dirt a few weeks we're starting to see the benefits of that predictability.  Ron White and his guys have built hundreds of buildings and they have a well-honed strategy of getting from one part of a project to the next.   The biggest challenge was making sure the materials they needed were there in time.  Our biggest issues have centered around the trusses and getting the truss company's designer and our architect together on the exact measurements in time to get the stuff produced.  I was assured months ago that all this was ready to go but it turns out that when you actually have to make all the pieces fit together you don't have what you thought you did.  Everything ended up working out fine but it was a lot of stress for everyone involved and there are going to be some post-mortem issues of who pays for a mistake here and there.

But seeing the building rise skyward is inspiring for all of us.  Once the third floor walls were in, the true shape of the building started to emerge.  The spaces for windows and doors give it definition and the maze of interior rooms give it complexity. 

Below are a few pics from the third floor framing. 

A column of 2x6's holds up a beam made from 2 "LVL"s.  Trusses for the 4th floor can be seen as well. 

Ron White installs a truss from above. 

A staircase inside a third floor apartment leads up to the little dormer rooms on the fourth floor. 

But those dormer rooms aren't really rooms yet, they're just platforms in the air.  But they still offer a fantastic view above it all!