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Building Your Dream Home - Part 3
By Mark J. Donovan, Fri Dec 9th
b>Exterior Framing Continues With the home’s sub-floor down and the exterior walls framed andup, the framing crew was on to the roof. Though the roof wasrather simple in structure with just a 12/12 pitch and novalleys it was a significant framing undertaking due to just thesize and height of it. The house was 32 feet wide by 44 feet inlength, and the exterior side walls stood 11 feet tall in thegreat room. This exterior wall height of 11 feet translated intoa roof ridge that was 27 feet off the floor of the great room.Consequently staging was required to install the ridge pole androof rafters. In addition, since the span from the top of thewalls to the ridge was so long, heavy 2x12s were required forthe roof rafters. Within a week, however, the team had completedthe installation of the roof rafters and the house began to takeon real shape. I should comment briefly about the sub-floor and exterior wallsbefore I move on.
I decided on using ¾” tongue and groove plywood for thesub-flooring rather than OSB/particle board as I was concernedthat the OSB was too sensitive to moisture. I was concernedabout this, both from the construction phase and from normalhome use. I was concerned that during the construction phasethat snow and ice could potentially lead to damage such aswarping. I have seen this before when OSB was used onsub-flooring. I was also concerned that during the life of thehome, that there could be water incidents, e.g. a leakingdishwasher or washer machine that also could also lead to waterdamage to the floor. I also believe that plywood is stronger andthat it would provide for a more solid and rigid floor. Regarding the exterior wall framing I used 2x6 construction.This is typical in New England as the additional wall depthallows for higher insulation factors; a must in colder climates. Sheathing the Outside of the Home In order to get plumbing and electric contractors onto a sitetypically they want the home “buttoned up”. This includes theroof shingled and the doors and windows on. Thus my framing crewmoved onto the exterior sheathing once the walls and roofframing were complete. As with the sub-floor, I again chose plywood for the exteriorsheathing for the same reasons mentioned earlier. On theexterior walls ½” exterior grade plywood was used. On the roof5/8” exterior grade plywood was used. I know many builders todayuse OSB for both the walls and roof, however, I still believefor stronger construction plywood is the way to go. The sheathing effort took about a week to complete. During thistime exterior doors and windows showed up on the site. Stagingthe delivery of material reduces theft and insurance risk aswell as keeps a less cluttered construction site. However, as Ihave indicated earlier, communication is critical when you aredoing “Just-in-Time” material delivery. Installing Exterior Doors and Windows The installation of the doors and windows was a majorundertaking for this project as the lake side view of the homewas literally a wall of windows; 32 feet in width and 27 feet inheight. A great deal of engineering had gone into the windowdesign so that the 10 large custom windows would fit togetherlike a jig saw puzzle. This said, when the windows arrived onsite and were inspected, it was determined that some of themwere not built correctly to the dimensions specified. After muchdebate with the framing crew, the window vendor and me wereached a compromise on sharing the cost of fixing the windows.The window vendor took back the improperly sized windows and theframing crew began the installation
of the doors and whatwindows they could install. Fortunately the window vendor wasable to return to the site with the properly sized windowswithin a few days and the construction phase did not miss a beat. Completing the Interior Framing With the doors and windows installed, the framing crew proceededto complete the Interior Framing. This was an exciting time, asthe rooms began to take real shape. You could now walk downhallways and into bedrooms and closet areas. Within just a fewdays the interior walls were complete and the framing crewproceeded onto the roof for the shingling. I should note that 2x4 construction was used on the interiorwalls as insulation was not required on the interior walls. Shingling the Roof The last task to complete before the house could be classifiedas “Buttoned Up” was to install the shingles on the roof.Fortunately my framing crew was also able to do this task, thuseliminating the need for yet another subcontractor. I chose a 30 year architectural shingle due to the quality andlook I was trying to achieve on the home. Though relatively a simple roof, it was quite large and theweather was less than hospitable. Consequently it took nearly 2weeks to complete this task. However, with the roof complete, myelectric and plumbing contractors were now able to begin theirwork. Also, with the main house now structurally complete, the framingcrew moved onto the garage framing and construction phase. As aresult of staging the garage behind the main home constructionphase, I was able to have subcontractors work in parallelwithout getting in each others way. Rough Electric and Plumbing With the house “Buttoned-Up”, my Electric and Plumbersubcontractors showed up to begin the roughing in phase of theirrespective tasks. Rough Electric I had met a few days before on site with the Electricsubcontractor to discuss the placement of all the wall outletsand switches, as well as where the light fixtures would besituated. During our discussion he marked the wall studs for theplacements of the electric wiring boxes so that we couldvisualize the entire electric wiring scheme. We also markedwhere the telephone and cable boxes would reside. During the electrical rough in wiring phase, the electricianinstalled all the wiring boxes and ran wire from the boxes towhere the main circuit panel box would reside. Rough Plumbing As with the Electrical Subcontractor, I had met several weeksearlier with the Plumbing Contractor. During this meeting wediscussed the form of heat for the home, as well as where thebathrooms and kitchen were to reside in the home. We alsodiscussed types of bathroom fixtures including tubs, sinks andtoilets. Consequently, when he showed up on site he new exactlywhere to run main drain and supply pipes and vent stacks. Healso roughed in all of the plumbing for each bathroom andkitchen plumbing fixture. Within a week both the Electrical and Rough Plumbing contractorshad completed their tasks and had successfully passed theirrespective inspections. To Be Continued …. In Part 4 of “Building Your Dream House”, Electric and Plumbingcontinue and the Kitchen Design is explained. Stay tuned……………
About the author:Me_Donovan@comcast.net http://www.homeadditionplus.comhttp://www.homeaddition.blogspot.com Over the past 20+ years Mr. Donovan has been involved withbuilding homes and additions to homes. His projects haveincluded: building a vacation home, building additions andgarages on to existing homes, and finishing unfinished homes.Mr. Donovan's formal education and profession have been as anElectrical Engineer and Marketing Manager.
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