Blog #9: Wall Framing Part 2.

Plenty happening this week on and off the field at Wilson court. On the field the boys were busy getting the wall frames ready for the roof trusses, while off field I have had a lot of balls in the air, sorting out details, and trying to stay well in front to avoid delays.

Onsite the builders have completed the wall framing and stood the first few trusses up on Friday afternoon. I asked Kristian to outline the process for wall framing – see below. (Refer to last week’s blog for some terminology).

  1. cut studs to suit wall height.
  2. cut and mark out top and bottom plates.
  3. build and stand frames.
  4. Fix (screw) bottom plates to slab in position.
  5. plumb up (straighten) from bottom plates and fix off all wall junctions (using gang nails).
  6. install all cross bracing (hoop iron with tensioners). Where cross bracing can’t be achieved, they use a timber temporary brace fixed back to a stable position (usually a bottom plate).
  7. finish all noggings into corners and openings (corner blocks)
  8. install double top plate to load bearing walls
  9. install all ply sheet bracing where required.
  10. the frame is now ready to load with trusses.

Wall bracing is designed to resist wind from all directions. The wind force is calculated for each elevation and bracing placed accordingly.

While the first steps happen pretty quickly the rest of the steps are more fiddly and take more time, so to the uneducated it seems like not much is happening. All these steps are now complete, and the rest of the trusses will go up early next week.

My head is spinning from all the items I have been organizing behind the scenes. Hopefully writing the following will help organize my thoughts:

  • The week kicked off by reviewing and approving our joinery quote from Kerang Custom Joinery(KCJ). Scott built our last kitchen when we renovated our house back in 2009. It copped a hiding from the kids and stood the test of time, so happy to have KCJ onboard again. I think quality is paramount with kitchen joinery so important to be comfortable with the workmanship of your cabinet maker.
  • CR Stone from Swan Hill have been following my blog and they reached out and offered to quote on our job. They gave us a great price which we have now accepted, and we are now considering doing our pantry bench in stone as well, rather than Laminex. We are not having a door on our pantry so we had been keen to match it with the kitchen but thought it would be cost prohibited. I think we are traveling ok with our budget at this stage so may splurge here.
  • Next, I drafted up some window details and sent to Kristian and Maher’s Glassworks for review and discussion. There is a bit going on with our walls with Metal Interlocking cladding fixed to 15mm foil board and 60mm top hat battens, which is then fixed to the stud frame. This is done to create an air gap and additional thermal performance. I therefore had to do some homework on the cladding and think about how we would like the finish around the window frames. Shaun Maher got back to me later in the week with a detail that I now need to talk to Kristian about before finalizing.
  • Been a little bit of progress with the screen doors and we picked a material sample to check out. We think it will block out too much light so either need something more open or use a different system all together. Have started to research retractable screens and will get prices on these.
  • There has been some back and forward with Stephen from Dahlsens in Swan Hill who is supplying our plumbing fixtures. We have now picked them all, and now have the final quote to review and run past the builder before order. The sink mixers were the sticking point, Jess seems to be particularly selective with these, however we feel we have found the ones we want. Matte Black Gooseneck POA mixers look like the go. POA stands for Pull Out Aerator, while POS stands for Pull Out Spray – learnt that this week. Pull Out refers to the end of the tap that pulls out, Aerator refers to a different flow option, whilst Spray refer to an additional spray speed. We will also need to change our pantry sink to an under-mount type if we end up going with stone.
  • Have selected a front door and handle. We are going with a white vertical panel door with a long matte black pull handle – see example below. Had to do some research to find the right locking mechanism, as the one we like the look of is a deadbolt which cannot be opened without key. This would be annoying during the day when we are home and using the door to go out the front. We debated how much we would use the front door as we would normally arrive via the garage, however decided that we want the option to have the door closed but not locked. I learnt that I needed a roller mortice lock that is like a deadbolt but also has a roller that allows the door to be closed without being locked. Most of these had a large plate which did not suit our desired look, so our options were limited. I found one and now have a quote from Dahlsens to approve.
  • The builders framed out the garage door opening, and there was discussion about what size the door will be. We are having a custom your door which will be clad in metal standing seam cladding to match the walls and give a seamless look. There was some doubt on the practically of this so I had done some research and obtained a quote from a company in Melbourne a couple of months ago to confirm it could be done and fitted into the budget. The main issue with these doors is the weight, as they need to be less that 180kg to work. There was some suggestion that the cladding needed to be plywood backed, which would exceed the weight, however I have confirmed they can be done with battens. The initial quote did not include travel for installation, so I got a revised quote to include this. Have tried to get quotes from companies in Echuca and Bendigo but have not had any luck yet.

We were lucky that most of the rain during the week was during the night, so the builders were able to fit in a whole week. Half the site seems to be under water, and I am pleased that we brought in the fill, so no water is ponding close to the house.

I visited the site Friday lunchtime and was excited to see the first truss go up. They put the long ones up first, so it was quite an effort to get the 13m long trusses up. I felt a bit guilty not helping but it was pretty cold and wet, so I was happy to get back to the warm dry office and try earn some money to pay for all this.

The boys were a bit cold with wet boots and socks so lit a fire for them after knock off and they proceeded to empty my beer fridge. Be sure to factor in a block of 30 great northern cans per week into your budget if using KM Bray Building.

5 thoughts on “Blog #9: Wall Framing Part 2.”

  1. Sounds like another busy week Josh! Was wondering how the rain affected your block, but it doesn’t look too bad.
    We are looking forward to working with you with your stone. – Hannah CR Stone

  2. Michelle and I also find mixers to be “a sticking point”. Have you considered the travel of the retractable hose to the mixer under the sink? It can tangle up and with your cleaning products under the sink. Perhaps a well placed piece of melamine could separate the hose from the cupboard contents while still providing access when needed.

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