Floor plan/layout of our house

Danny and I worked on the house again today, installing more rafters and header beams on top of the porch posts. I’ll include a few photos of today’s work in a post after tomorrow’s work.

A couple of people have asked about the floorplan of our house. It has changed since I last posted a layout on February 8, 2009. I’ve been negligent in not posting a current floor plan. So, I’m rectifying that situation now.

The layout for the first floor that we’re working with now (after some adjustment over the last few months) looks like this (click image for a larger view):

If you compare the current plan with the previous floor plan, you will notice a few changes. The main thing is the kitchen which has been moved forward outside of the timber frame area. To the left of the kitchen is the summer kitchen on the southwest corner of the porch area. We also changed the bathrooms to put them next to one another, and we moved the pantry to the northwest corner of the timber frame area. This allowed us to put windows in both bathrooms. On the northwest corner of the house is located the mudroom, utility room, and the sewing room/study.

The porch, which we are working on now, extends around the house with the dotted line in the layout denoting the edge. The porch is 9 feet wide.

The upstairs in the house is in the timber frame area. It’s layout is like this (click image for a larger view):

The center section is open to the first floor. The stairs come up in a U shape at the back of the house where there is a landing. The two bedrooms upstairs are on the east and west end of the house. There is some storage space accessed from these rooms under the eaves at the front of the house. We’ve really not changed anything upstairs – there’s only so much that can be done.

The porch posts are vertical

Well, all except two of them.

In April of last year, dad and I milled the posts for our porch (post 1 & post 2). Since then, they’ve been stacked in the timber frame waiting to be used. Today, it was finally time to begin installing them.

The process was fairly simple, but did take a bit of time. The first task was to square one end of each post and then cut them to length. Squaring an end involves cutting it on four sides with the circular saw and finishing the cut with a handsaw (about 3/4” in the center).

The posts are all set over concrete piers and tie into the beams used to frame the porch deck. Being cedar, they aren’t too heavy even though they are full 6x6s. We set them up to vertical and toe nailed them into the deck framing while holding them mostly plumb. Then, I drilled holes to embed two 7” lag screws into the bottom of each post, coming up at an angle through the 6x8 beam upon which each partially sits.

As we set the posts, we also began to put up the 4x6 header on top. These small beams butt to one another on top of the posts. Since the 4x6s vary in height, I’m cutting them to 5 inches to provide a consistent height for the rafters which will sit on the header.

By the end of the day, we had all but two posts set and the header installed across the front and most of the east side. It shouldn’t take too long to set the last two posts and finish the header. I may put up some rafters on the front tomorrow.

  

Another week’s worth of work is done

It feels good to get things done on the house. We are on schedule for being ready for the straw bales by the end of July. If our progress is good next week, I’ll call the guy I’m buying them to arrange for delivery sometime during the last week of July (which isn’t far away).

This morning we continued putting up vertical stringers on the west side of the utility room and mudroom. We got the north side of this section done on Wednesday. Having done the other wall of stringers, this wall went quickly. Once we had rafters up, we were able to frame the end walls with the vertical stringers.

I was glad to see that the length of the north wall above the root cellar and the west wall above the root cellar (and past it) were the same. I actually find this remarkable because the rooms here are the result of different sections of foundation built at different times coming together. I feel blessed.

At lunch time, it was beginning to rain a little bit. The rain didn’t continue, though. So, we were able to continue work in the afternoon.

We framed the kitchen with the vertical stringers for these bale walls. There is a door on the west wall that will lead into the summer kitchen. There is a six foot wide by 36” tall window on the south wall that will be above the sink. There is a 36” by 36” window on the east wall. We’ll be building the bucks for the doors and windows later. When they’re installed, things will look different.

We put up all of the rafters above the sewing room/study, utility room, mudroom, and kitchen. I’m planning on buying some more 2x6s from the local guy who I’ve bought other lumber from. I bought two exterior doors from him yesterday. One will be the front door and the other will exit from the sewing room/study onto the back porch.

I also picked up the roofing metal I ordered for the porch. I have some 10’ pieces of metal, but they wouldn’t allow for enough overhang. So, I ordered 11’ pieces of ‘rainbow’ metal. Out of the 50 pieces I received, two are black and 48 are galvanized.

Next week, we should be able to get the porch posts up and the header that goes between the posts put on. Then, we’ll put on the porch rafters and, hopefully, the purlins so we can put on the roofing metal.

More vertical stringers

Jon and I started in on the west side of the house today. After moving the materials and tools we needed, ripping a few more 2x8s into 2x4s, and laying out the positions for the stringers, they installed quite well. So, the majority of the stringers are in around the timber frame. The ones that remain are shorter ones that will be below and above the window/door bucks.

After finishing the west side stringers, we took a little time to do some figuring on the pitch for the porch roof (also the pitch for the roof over the kitchen, summer kitchen, mudroom, utility room, and sewing room/study area). I don’t want the outside wall of these rooms and the outside of the porch too low. We set up a board so we could visualize the pitch and take some accurate measurements.

With this figuring done, we moved our efforts to the wall on the outside edge above the root cellar, walls for the sewing room/study and utility room. There will be one large window in each of these rooms.

We put up a header on the vertical stringers for attaching rafters to the house. We then nailed 2x4s cut to the right height along the back wall, leaving openings for the window bucks. It is exactly 24 feet from one corner of this wall to the other. So, we were able to use one 2x4 (cut from a 24’ 2x8) as the header at the top of the wall. This provides the plate for the 2x6 rafters to sit on.

After getting the corners of the wall plumb, we nailed on the header. Then, we plumbed each of the verticals and nailed them on. Next, we put on some rafters in order to tie the wall into the house.

We’ll continue where we left off on Friday. Hopefully, we finish the west wall on this part of the house and put up the vertical stringers on the front of the kitchen. Maybe we’ll even get other stuff done.

   

Vertical stringers

Since we are going to have a wood shingle siding on the outside of our house rather than just plastered straw bales, there is a need to have some sort of framing to hang the siding on. We were able to get started on some of this framing yesterday. Jon wasn’t able to make it, but Danny was glad to help.

The vertical stringers to which horizontal stringers will be attached (upon which the siding will hang) are 2x4s set 18 inches outside of the timber frame. These 2x4s extend from the floor level to the rafters. Previously, I bought some 20 foot long 2x8s from a local guy with the intention of ripping them into 2x4s for framing purposes. These 2x8 boards were a good deal and make it possible for the vertical stringers to be one piece the whole distance.

We began the day by affixing a 2x4 to the rafters on the back of the house across the whole length. We snapped a chalk line to facilitate putting the board 18” outside the timber frame. Then, I climbed a ladder holding one end of the board while Danny lifted it with a 16 foot 2x4 nailed to the opposite end. He held up his end while I nailed the other end in place and then worked my way down the board nailing it to the rafters. Because of the length of the 2x4s we had, we only needed two to extend across the back of the house.

Next, I laid out the location of the windows on the back of the house, marking their location on the 2x4 bale toe-up on the floor. Later, we will build window bucks using 2x4s that will hang on the vertical stringers where the windows go. Upstairs windows are designed to be above downstairs windows, simplifying their framing.

Most of our windows require a 56” by 54” rough opening. So, we set the vertical stringers on the sides of the windows 59” apart, leaving 3” for the extra width of the window bucks that will be attached later.

After completing the back of the house, we moved our materials and tools to the front of the house to install the vertical stringers there. At this point, my left leg slipped through the 2xs on the bale toe-up causing some bruising in my thigh muscles. I was able to keep working the rest of the day, but by evening, the pain was intense. It’s much better today, though.

After lunch, Danny and I cut boards and put the stringers up on the front of the house. It went surprisingly quickly, probably because we didn’t have to climb any tall ladders (we were working with 9’ 2x4s rather than 17 foot ones). We had to set them for front door and two large windows for the living room.

Since it didn’t take long to complete the front stringers, we moved to the east side of the house. On this side there are two more large windows on the end of the living room, an 8’ sliding glass door off of Anne’s and my bedroom, and a large window upstairs (these will all become more clearly visible when we make and install the window/door bucks). The tallest stringer was in the middle and is nearly 20 feet long.

For each of the stringers on the end of the house, we attached short sections of 2x4 to the roof sheeting to which the top of the stringers could be attached. I have one that I set out a bit too far (supposed to be 18”) which I will correct later. We were able to get all of them put in place before it was time to quit yesterday. We got more done than expected.

The stringers are nailed into the toe-up at the floor level, the 2nd story bale plate, and the 2x4s at rafter level. They aren’t required to provide structural support since there will be straw bales between them and the timber frame which will be able to support themselves. The straw bales will also help support the windows. Although the stringers will hold the window/door bucks in place, the bales will provide most of the support for them, too. The stringers, straw bales, and timber frame will also all be securely tied together when we install the bales.

Jon is planning on being here Wednesday. We’ll continue installing the stringers on the west side of the house. We may build and put in some window/door bucks. We might also begin putting up some stringers around the kitchen and above the root cellar.

   

Bale plate and toe-up

It was quite hot on Wednesday, but we were able to work in the shade most of the day. With a breeze blowing, the 99 degree weather was bearable.

We accomplished a fair bit. First, we completed installing the short 2x6 joists from the timber frame out to the box board. This provides support for the floor under the straw bales. It didn’t take long to get this boards nailed in.

The next task was to build a plate to extend out from the frame near second story height. This plate will hold the vertical stringers for hanging the siding out from the bale wall. It will also provide a sort of floor for the second floor bales to be installed upon.

We build the plate with 2x4s and made it 18 inches wide, the width of straw bales. We put it together in sections on the porch, using sheets of Advantech for a floor to work on. It wasn’t hard to lift it into place and shoot a few nails into the timber frame beam on the back of the house to hold the plate in place.

We only needed to install a plate on the back and both sides. The porch rafters will butt up with the beam across the front of the house.

We measured the height for the plate so that it will not be too difficult to stack bales underneath of it on the first floor. It ended up being at a height for seven courses of straw bales. This matched up quite close for the bottom of the beam on the back of the house, but on the sides it didn’t. We had to install it below the beam. This is fine as it will be supported  by vertical 2x4s which will be nailed into it on the outside face extending from porch floor level to rafters.

There are two sections of wall where the design calls for straw bales upstairs with no straw bales directly below downstairs. This is because of running the straw bale wall around the exterior of the rooms above the root cellar and the crawl space under the mudroom on the northwest corner of the house.

For the section of wall on the north side, I will frame some built-in book shelves to help support the plate and upstairs straw bales since this is in the location of a study/sewing room area. The other wall above the mudroom/utility room will have a wall extending out near the middle of the plate which will provide support. I will also add some diagonal braces from the plate to the beam on the timber frame between which bales will be inserted for the first upstairs course. The plate will also be connected to the rafters via vertical 2x4 strapping. I will detail these elements as we complete them.

After installing he plate, we began putting 2x4s down flat to provide a toe-up for the bales. The idea is to keep them above floor level in case there is ever a water leak or spill inside the house. Having the bales up an extra inch or two will help keep water from infiltrating the bale wall.

We put one board even with the outside edge of the timber frame, one 18” out from the frame, and one centered between the other two. We were able to put down about half of the total amount required. Later, we will put subfloor material on top of this toe-up when we put the rest of the subfloor down on the first floor.

We’re planning on working on the house again tomorrow, unless it rains. the task at hand is to finish the toe up for the bale wall and begin installing vertical strapping from the porch to the rafters.

Finishing the floor framing

The floor is almost all framed. We lack installing the short sections of 2x6 along the back that will support the straw bale wall.

Last week, we only worked on the house Monday, getting all of the 2x6 floor joists installed on the porch and the first three 4x6 joists as well.  

Anne and I celebrated our 20th wedding anniversary on Wednesday. She and I took off Wednesday and Thursday for some time out together – the children stayed with my parents.

On Friday, I mowed hay, and we baled what I had previously mowed on Tuesday afternoon. So, there wasn’t time to get back to work on the house as I had hoped.

We got at it this morning and put in a full day. We completed putting in the rest of the 4x6  floor joists on the porch. Then, we installed the floor joists for the kitchen, the west side porch, and the mudroom. The next thing was to put in the short 2x6 joists that frame the floor upon which the straw bale walls will be placed. This process went well, but the day was done before we could get the section on the back of the house done. We’ll complete that on Wednesday.

I have to figure out how to proceed from this point. There are several tasks to be completed before we can begin stacking straw bales, including building the framework to hold the windows and exterior siding, framing the summer kitchen, putting up the porch posts, roofing the porch, installing the first floor subfloor, and screwing on the porch floor.

Three years ago I bought 300 bales of straw for the house which have been stored in the barn since then. I should’ve waited. Several of them have not faired well for a variety of reasons. I also wanted some better straw. Last week I made a deal to purchase 300 more bales of good wheat straw. The guy I’m buying them from will deliver then when I’m ready for them. We’re working to be ready by the end of July.