Measure Twice. . . 

House building is not for folks with OCD!  When I was taking adobe classes we were taught to make sure all our measurements were as correct as possible from the very beginning because errors made at the foundation stage would just get multiplied as the walls went up.  Sooooo - I measured and measured and measured and then measured again.  Then the wind would come up and all the foam insulation which made up the outside of the foundation would move - so I'd measure and move and stake things again.  Then the gravel went in and I would see that the forms had moved yet again.  So we made sure the strings were in the correct place.  As the house has progressed we continue to be somewhat obsessed with making sure everything is going in the right place.  (It wakes me up at night! <G>)

I have read accounts of home building where the owner/builder gets to the roof and the trusses don't quite fit or the roof is not quite square.  We have a good friend (hi Pat!) who has built somewhere in the neighborhood of 17 houses and I was asking her about tolerances and did she ever have to "fudge" things to get them to work and she just rolled her eyes and said "All the time!!!"  Then we get to the framing stage and notice that well over 30% of our posts are just a tiny bit twisted or bowed - or something - so we have FINALLY taken a deep breath and laughed at ourselves and realized that we are human, the materials we are using are organic and it will all come together somehow in the end!  That's not to say that we are not being as careful as we can possibly be but we're getting better about not letting it keep us awake at night!  I think that's progress.

So - on to framing!

Here we are with all the posts cut, clips attached to the tops and laid in place, ready for instillation.

This is the end of day one.  The south wall with the big adobe section and short trombe wall has been framed and the shorter south wall with the other trombe also got framed.

The inside of the house will have a pitched ceiling and to get an idea of just how tall the ceiling will be, especially in the living space, Rick held a 14' 2x8 upright.  Wow!  It's going to feel like a palace inside!

Day two.

The end of day three.  About 2/3 of the west wall is done.  It's taking us a little longer to do than we anticipated but we're plugging along.  We had some gusty wind during this framing session.  It's a little hairy to be on top of the scaffolding and have a 23mph wind gust come through!  We're being very careful!!!!

Here is Rick eyeing the fruits of our labor in the office.

The end of day three of framing.

Mother Nature Always Wins!

So says a friend of ours.  April 3rd dawned with 5" of very wet snow.  It will be a couple of days before things dry out enough for us to get back to work.

But it is beautiful and we do need the moisture!