This week on the homestead we are framing our phase 2 addition. Now that the slab is complete and has cured.

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Week 4 on the phase 2 home build is so exciting! I am trying to keep up with the progress with pictures and youtube videos to share with you all. I love to share all the knowledge we have learned from both our construction phases. I am so lucky with a husband who can do it all and if he does not know how he has read books and watched youtube videos himself.

It is time to start building the shell. In order to keep the project rolling smoothly, we have to stay one step ahead. While we were preparing the slab and pouring concrete, we also were doing material take-offs and ordering from the local lumber company. Material take-offs can be overwhelming if not taken in bite size pieces.

Headers and special timbers are all called out in the engineering by size and length. Pressure treated sill plate is the length of all walls combined and twice that for top plates. Although studs are 16” spacing, I typically order one for every 12” of wall to have enough for window penetrations and other stud-consuming obstacles. By doing all of this ahead of time, we were able to have materials on site shortly after the slab was poured. Before the big framing day, we laid out the sill plates by drilling out the anchor bolt holes and marking where each stud, trimmer, king and post would go. Then the top plates are mirrored to match the sill plate. Doing this ahead of time makes framing a breeze.

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Here are the main tools that Trevor used on framing & compiled a list to share with you all for

your future home projects.

On the big framing day, we began by building one wall flat on the slab and standing it up on its anchor bolts once completed. It is temporarily braced until all walls are finished and stood. Once all the exterior walls are up, we plumbed each wall before connecting them all to each other. After all the exterior walls are plumb and nailed, the interior walls were built in the same fashion. Lastly, the shell is sheathed with plywood or OSB per the structural and nailed accordingly. Our interior walls were called out in the engineering to be sheer walls because of the stacked roof and vaulted ceiling in the entry way. The last step is to tie up all loose ends, make sure all the framing is done and ready to start on the roof!!  

If any of you have any questions about home building or have any questions about any of our projects please let me know below or email me. We honestly love to share all our knowledge of our home build projects. Cheers to more progress each week on Frankie’s nursery!

Hugs, Christina