Winter is here

Snow has finally fallen on the build site but there's still a little progress to be had.  All the steel beams for the main floor of the house have been laid and pinned.

 You can see the three beams in this picture.  Two are extending from the exterior basement walls to the central elevator shaft and one simply spans the width of the great room.

 Here, you can see the alignment of the beams as the meet at the elevator shaft.  the far beam will support the weight of the rotunda.  Matt the framer says that after the posts are in place, the beam will be cut to accommodate the staircase that comes down to the basement.

 Here's the beam that spans the great room.  It's actually at the transition of the great room and sitting area/nexus between the rotunda and kitchen.  This will support the weight of the fireplace above.  Although it's only going to be a gas fireplace, it will be a central column that extends up the height of two stories.  The area under the great room, in the basement, will be a workout room with a walkout.  Although this area won't be finished for move in, we've planned to have these posts hidden by walls.  To the left and right of the two posts will be half walls with (plexi) glass going to the ceiling.  In-between the posts will be french doors of some kind.  Haven't figured that out yet.

 Here's how the post is pinned to the footing.  A drilled steel plate is welded to the post and rebar is used to pin it to the footing.  I think there will be a stronger mechanical fastener there in the future, but this footing will be under the slab, so it will never be seen.

 Here's one of two posts for the rotunda beam.  The stairs will descend through the posts and the beam will be cut between the two posts.

 The top of the post is just welded to the beam.  I wouldn't suspect that this is sufficient, but I'll trust my framer for this one.  The current house we're living in has a plate with "fingers" that grab the edges of the beam.

 Since the span was so great (and the beam will be cut anyways) two beams were welded together.  It's a temporary weld since this part will be cut out for the stairwell.  No support plates are needed in this case.

Here's how the beam is pinned in the pocket.  It's enough to mechanically hold it in place, and I imagine that concrete will be used to fill the pocket afterwards.

I think there will be a slowdown in construction now that freezing temperatures are the norm.  Walls can be poured since they're mostly protected by the ICF, but the first floor will have to wait until thaw.  It would be cost prohibitive to have a 2500 sq ft heating blanket laid while the floor cures to strength.