And then the Garage went up

Today the framing crew got to work and quickly changed the look of the house.  They got the sill plate down and by lunchtime they had the walls up on the garage.  Kevin had to make a run to pick up the 20' long LVLs that make up the header and then we made the second trip of the day (first was on the way to the site) to pick up the remaining lumber.

  Burgers were a hit with the crew - and they had their post-lunch siesta before getting everything ready to set the trusses up and make it a complete garage.  By the time I left for the day they were finishing the roof structure by fabricating the supports where the garage roof (3:12 pitch) meets the house roof (4:14 pitch).

This really does change the look of the house for the better.  Once the well is drilled the framers will finish up the deck and the look will be all but complete (hardi siding, paint, roofing).

The framing crew raising the second garage wall.  That's wood on the floor to protect the concrete that was just poured yesterday.

And it's UP. 

Nailing the wall to the sill plate.

Setting the braces to hold walls parallel and vertical while building remaining part of garage.

This is the post-lunch Siesta - Roy was playing with his new Blackberry and the rest were trying to sleep.  Loud music wasn't conducive to sleeping!

Break time - most of the trusses are up on the walls buy laying down at this point.  Once they started setting the trusses it didn't take long to  get them all in (about 90 minutes including bracing and then building the intersection of the roofs with the complex angles)

Gustavo trying his hand at dowsing - he wasn't successful but sure did enjoy trying.

It's cheap entertainment at worst! 

Wait - did it really work for him?  No - but I showed them  that it worked with my eyes closed.  

Here's a view of the almost complete framing from the NorthWest corner

And the obligatory "driveway view"

Head on view from fairly close

Head-on view from North edge of the cleared area.

A close up from the North edge of the cleared area

I left at about 17:30 and the crew was still working - I expect the morning will reveal a garage with roofing and a gable end on it.  Just for info that door is 8' tall and 18' wide.  Hoping on Thursday we can report that at least one well has been drilled and we're moving on to the second geothermal (inferred is that the first has sufficient water for the house).