We've got world-class formwork!

Heard from John last night Continued good news. Much progress and hard work is going on. Emil and his hardworking crew have been finalizing the 2nd floor patio floor beam this week. They got the formwork done yesterday (finished in 8 days) It was inspected and approved by the building inspector. Yippee yahoo. As John, our architect put it, it was "a world class formwork effort by Emil's crew". It's HUGE as formworks go AND curved. See the pics below. They will pour the patio beam today (they pour concrete into the form they built).

The framing crew continue to place floor joists and plywood decking. They will finish the second floor decking on Friday except for the dining room exposed tongue and groove exposed decking. All other floor decking, cross bridging, and floor joists is complete. John even made sure that the plywood was glued to each floor joist to eliminate squeaks.

The framing contractor (Doug Daly, Owner of DLM Carpentry Contractors) began second floor wall framing today. John says that Doug and his four man crew have worked very efficiently and quickly. I hesitate typing this in fear of jinxing the house building gods, but Doug and Emil think that the roof joists, roof trusses, and decking can be complete by the end of the month!! Wow...from their lips to Gods ear!

Emil pointing the excellent works the guys were doing on the Patio Formwork!

Our Stained Glass Wizard Artist

Back in a January post I mentioned our stained glass artist, Geri Willingham of Dunedin, who is creating a series of stained glass windows and panels for the house. I just dug up the CD she gave me with photos of some of her concept drawings. I thought I'd post a few to share my excitement.

Wood Beams

Work continued on the columns that will form the patios overlooking the garden. These are pictures of the patio beam formwork. Creating the BIG circular beam that will support the second story patio.

Then the laminated wood beams for the area above the dining room were delivered and installation began complete with humungous crane (neighbors must love us). These beams will be exposed in the dining room.

That is one Big A*# Beam!

Crane Truck

Crane Truck in Action

Beam Number Two being put in place

The "do hickies" for where the beams go ( guess I need to find out what they are called)

According to John my architect, those "do hickies" are Anchor Straps that are buried into the poured concrete bond beam and starapped around the laminated beams.

More Beams

From the underside

This is really pretty exciting!

A Busy Week - The Second Floor Begins

It was a busy week. After the bond beams and patio columns wer poured, the sill plates for the second floor were placed and the patio circular beam was formed.

The floor joists, laminated beams and roof truss shop drawings were reviewed and approved. The laminated beams and floor joists were delivered on Tuesday and the second floor framing began on Wed. Good progress was made on the framing and the work will continue through next week to complete the second floor.

Decisions made, Decisions to Make. Decided on a 20 gallon wall mounted water heater (in a weatherproof cabinet) for the pool cabana so we can have warm water for the pool shower. John is working on selecting the elevator...we will "test drive" the two contenders when we're in St. Pete at end of month. Decided against hydraulic as I'm not convinced it won't smell like hydraulic fluid....hate that smell!

Bond Beams and Columns

The Bond Beams and Columns for the exterior patio are being poured today. See pictures below for the "forms" prior to the pour. Floor framing material is arriving Wednesday. John is really happy with the work of the contractor's both with the progress and in the quality of the workmanship. This is very good news. One thing you want to get right is the foundation and "bones" of a building!

Progress

They are getting ready to pour the concrete columns that will form the semi circular patio. The Cabana walls are up and the plumbing has been roughed in. Floors will be poured on Saturday. Floor framing materials will arrive next Wednesday. So within the next few weeks they should have the floor framed and some exterior second floor walls up! wooohooo.

We've decided to finish the exterior steps leading out of the Dining Room with the same colored concrete tile as on the old existing walkways and garage apron. Also decided that we really do like the Tigerwood flooring we considered. a nice mix of reds, brown, and ligh wood tones.

John and Emil have decided that a small gas on demand water heater will suffice for the exerior. shower at the cabana, Those crazay floridians were thinking we didn't need hot water in the cabana...I guess they don't swim in the cooler winter months...but I'm not taking any cold showers! Settled on a pedestal type sink for the cabana to make for a cleaner floor space...with a wall cabinet for toilet paper and suntan lotion (oh and bug spray...lets not forget the bug spray).

First Floor Block Up!

First Floor block is up! Work appears to be moving quickly. They've double checked and confirmed the measurements on window openings and head heights. Window details have been revised so that they will recess the frames about two inches. A small detail that looks really nice. The electrician continues to rough in wall boxes and light fixture locations. We've added a few more exterior lights to the plan.