A little bit more

More subfloor is slowing starting to go up.  Probably about half of the first floor is down, from the back of the house up to the first main beam.

A decent amount of snow is already in the basement and it seems like we're going to be sealing it in should the whole floor get placed.

 Here's a shot from the back towards the front.  It's just been a fancy hole in the ground for so long.  Now it's starting to really feel like some kind of house.  It's pretty nice to have something overhead even if it's just foam

 You can see the concrete pylons that hold the posts for the main support.  The final grade of the floor will be about 3" above this footing.  That will give us just about 10' of basement height.  I'm really looking forward to the height.  We'll be able to have a nice workout room; no need to worry about banging the ceiling with overhead presses.  Another reason is that we'll have a theater room with a two step riser.  Even with the riser height, the last row will be 8' to the ceiling, assuming 12" risers.

 Another shot looking out the back, where the workout room/walk out #2 will be.  The footing on the left of the frame is for the staircase coming down.  It will carry on the curved rotunda stair and support the weight of the stairs above.

 Here's a shot of the kitchen corner.  The kitchen sits on the left of the picture and the back porch and great room are on the right.

The Litedeck sits on the beams.  I'm still not sure what the purpose of the angle iron is since it doesn't line up with the beam troughs.  Maybe they act as tie downs for the concrete when it's poured.  You can see the back porch and gazebo n the right of the frame.

Slow progress?

Winter has settled in here in Michigan and progress has slowed.  The framer and his crew have started to assemble the LiteDeck ICF subfloor and it looks like it's going to be an interesting system.

 2x6 wood joists are installed in the slots and secured from above with wood screws and plastic flanges.  Temporary supports are installed to create more stability for walking on and pouring the concrete.

 Long spans can be created since the poured concrete beams will support the floor.  After the concrete has cured, in our application, every other 2x6 will be removed and used on the second floor.  The remaining will be used as drywall nailers for the basement ceiling.

 Angle iron has been welded to the tops of the beams.  I think these will attach to the rebar that runs in the beam channels and mechanically tire the floor to the beams.

 Wood flanges hold the 2x6 in place against the steel beam.  These will be removed so the 2x6 can be removed.

This temporary support is attached to the ICF wall.

As you can see, snow is in the basement and it's predicted to be a cold winter and mild spring and summer.  Hopefully this bodes well for building.

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.