The trouble with trusses

 

 

Staying positive does not mean that things will turn out ok.

Rather, it is knowing that YOU will be ok

no matter how things turn out.

 

 

 

The weekend of November 9th, 2018 brought the end of all the interior and exterior framing, and began the huge job of putting up the trusses.

 

 

 Backhoe Selfie with Dad!

You don't need a lot of money to lead a rich life.

Good friends and a loving family are worth more than their weight in gold.

 

 

This was a little nerve-racking for me at times...

 

 

The best views come from the backhoe bucket:

 

 

 

Captured this neat view from the barn as we worked till dark.

 

 

 

Making progress and gaining lots of respect for those who do this for a living!

 

 

By November 11th, 2018 - Most of the trusses were up and secured till the weather reared it's ugly head and covered everything with ice and snow to stop our progress.



 

 

 

 

Finally got all the trusses up on November 17th while preparing to put the sheathing on top and gather bids to hire someone to finish roofing it, along with building the front carport and back porch.

This was a beautiful sight and we couldn't wait to get it all dried in!

 

 

 

Then...Mother Nature slapped us in the face.

 

 

On November 25th, 2018 we had record high-speed winds.  Weatherman said our area had 50+ mph winds.  We believe it to be higher.  However, we are lucky that we only had a few trusses damaged.  It ripped off half of the house wrap and the force from the fallen trusses pushed on some of the walls, but it was nothing we couldn't fix, thankfully.  The problem with construction is, Mother Nature has no concern with your process or progress.

 

 

 

It looked like a giant sheet of lattice had fallen right in the middle of the house.

 

 

Country Boy got the tractor to hold the worst wall with ratchet straps.  Then we began putting stakes in the ground to affix 2x4's to help secure it more from the wind.  Our awesome family and friends soon came to our rescue to pull off the fallen trusses and help sturdy up all the walls to avoid more damage.  All while the wind continued to blow fast, frigid air.

 

We are so thankful that this was left standing.

 

 

 

At first it was shock, then I may have panicked a little.  But I believe all the prayers we sent up that morning because it was so windy, (before the wind took it down), those prayers are what kept the rest of the house standing firm.  The damage could have been worse.  We gave thanks for our blessings and that no one got hurt helping us salvage and protect what was left during the high, cold winds.

We won't let this set-back get us down! 

We continue on with the bidding process and trust in God's plan.

 

To be continued...



In an busy frame of mind

While waiting on the weather to allow us to begin the framing process, we had the lumber ordered and ready for pick up when we got ready.  We also ordered the trusses, windows and doors. 

Finally picked up most of the lumber, October 17th, and drove it into the barn for safe keeping till the rain subsided and things finally dried out over the weekend.

 

 

 

The pictures don't do it justice, it was a lot of lumber.  It was amazing to me, that whole trailer held the basic structures of most of the walls to our new home!

October 20th we started on the framing.
Lots of prep-work.  We put down house wrap to protect the concrete as it will later be stained.




We are so thankful and grateful for our family and friends, spending the weekend with us and helping to start the framing of the house.
 

 

A special moment for us as we took a family picture in the front doorway.

 

We couldn't have asked for better weather!


With our paying jobs, we are basically weekend warriors, working on this, mostly on the weekends.  Our typical "construction job" hours, we hit it hard starting Friday nights, till the sun goes down, Sunday evenings.  If we are lucky, the two of us get to spend hours in the evenings working on this during the week.  Thanks again to family and friends, we finished framing the outside walls the weekend of October 27th, 2018. 


A snapshot of the beautiful sunset Country Boy and I worked under on a nice Tuesday evening.



Weekend Warriors - We are blessed.







A view from the backyard looking up at the back of the living room area/back door.
Framing this wall was a doozie with all the windows.  But well worth it for the view!
 


This was the last outside wall to complete the exterior and end the weekend. 
Again, blessed with great weather and great help!




November 2nd, 2018 brought the delivery of our trusses.  Had to take down the fence into the pasture for the wide load delivery to bring the materials in.

Our version of "Friday Night Lights" to begin the long weekend of interior framing.
November 2nd - 4th, 2018.



The beginning of the interior walls, starting with the master bathroom on a Friday night.


These little shells are used with a tool to literally shoot nails into the concrete to stabilize the walls.



Master bathroom, closet, and bedroom to end our Saturday.

A little fire to warm up at from time to time.



Sunday, November 4th, 2018 - Starting on the entryway and Drummer Boy's bedroom.

 

 

Another productive weekend with beautiful weather.  Special thanks to family and friends!

Over 3/4 of the way done with the framing at this point.

 

 

I love this picture of my Country Boy, looking at all this hard work as we finish up for the weekend.


Country Boy took off for most of the week, November 6th - 9th, (except to be on-call), to finish up the interior walls and get ready to put the trusses on for the roof.


Had a lot of help, getting a lot done!  All the plywood up on the outside walls and more work on the inside walls every day, till the daylight ran out and we physically couldn't do anymore.

 

I made Country Boy stop to take a "Construction Selfie" with me.

 

 

Back to work all the next day, into the night.

 

 

 

I do believe Miss Dally likes her new home.  Just hanging out at the front door.

 

 

Finished all the outside walls.

Front view.

Back view.

 

Still need to cut out all the doors and windows, but we are only doing what is needed as it helps keep the cold wind out.  Sometimes.


All the inside walls are framed and it is so fun to be able to walk through the house and see it!
I love the view of the half moon in the sky in this picture.

 

There is not a piece of lumber in this house that my Country Boy didn't touch!
I'm so proud of him and all his hard work.


Next up - Trusses.