Owner Building a Home - Day 37 - Framing of House COMPLETE!

Well, mostly!  There are a few details here and there that need to be completed but all the walls are up and in place and most of the top plates are in place, too!  We do have to add trimmers (that is the side pieces in a doorway) to some of the doors but that can be done whenever.  All the rooms are now framed and it is so fun to see each room space a little more defined.  The pictures will make more sense when the drywall is up since the rooms will have more definition but we can now go into each bedroom, bathroom and closet and imagine life in each room.

lounge area at the top of the stairs

standing in the master bedroom looking down the hallway towards the other bedrooms

  

master bedroom: doorway towards the right leads to the master bath



master bedroom: doorway in wall to the left leads to the master bath, room in the middle of the photo is the WIC, doorway to the right leads to the office above the garage (which is yet to be built)

 

standing in the lounge

Yesterday it rained in the morning so that changed our plans to pour the garage floor.  Concrete trucks would make a huge mess on the yard and there was water pooling in the plastic.  Jay worked just a couple hours at the site but then we decided to take the rest of the day off.  I REALLY needed to go grocery shopping since I hadn't gone for about 3 weeks.  So while Jay spent the afternoon at home with the kids, I went shopping.  We don't count yesterday as a work day since it was so short.  However, one of the greatest purchases yesterday was a pair of steel-toed shoes JUST. FOR. ME!!  I have kicked too many walls and set too many walls on my toes that it was time to get a pair of safety shoes.  I think they look fantastic and they are super comfy!  I am now really ready to work on the house.  Just in case I wasn't before!  :)

Today Jay and I spent time at the site with the kids for a while and then in the middle of the afternoon, when it was at its hottest, the kids went back to grandma's house.  They LOVE going to her house and spending time in the air conditioning with grandma/grandpa and grandma/grandpa love to have them over.  It is a HUGE blessing to have in laws who are so willing to help out this way.  We are so thankful for them!  If you know anything about me, I am a "I-can-do-it-myself" kind of a person.  Sending the kids to mom and dad's is asking for help but they insist on helping in this way and I am learning to accept their generosity!

Jay finished tying all the pex pipe (when we knew we weren't pouring concrete yesterday, he stopped working on it since there was no rush.  Mr.W did do some, though.) today so that is now ready for concrete on Tuesday.  We also applied some BlueSkin (a REALLY sticky tar-like paper that is a waterproof membrane) to the front of the house to protect everything from the soil that will be piled against it.  Then we finished framing the rest of the upstairs.  It was a hot and humid day once again but towards the evening it started to get a little cooler as the clouds rolled in and the thunder started booming.  Then when I was at the top of the ladder trying to secure the very last walls in place, it poured.  Huge, cold, wet drops!  Since I had been so sweaty, it felt even colder!  Despite the rain, we finished framing!

One thing I am always concerned about as a woman doing construction is the clothing I am wearing.  Now, before you laugh, guys can just throw on whatever and it really doesn't matter.  Holey shirts, torn pants, it doesn't matter.  If the guys get too hot they can just take off their shirts (actually Jay has been the only one to do that).  I have to think about which shirt to wear and which undergarments to wear (to put it nicely!) and make sure nothing is showing that shouldn't.  Gets a bit stressful when your clothes are always dirty at the end of the day and the selection gets slim.  I want to be appropriate and discreet and not too uncomfortable but that is hard when you are wearing tank tops!  I have found the best clothing to wear is tank tops with built-in shelf bras - they are the most comfy and cover appropriately!  I found some cute ones for $3 yesterday so I bought a couple.  Along with my new shoes, I am ready for another week of work. 

Sunday is always a day off for us so we are going to watch the local minor league baseball team in action.  Our boys get to be baseball buddies with the team - a chance to be paired with a player and stand on the field with them during the national anthem - that is super exciting for them!  Next week we can concentrate on the roof!