Trusses flew up!

   The weather is warming up again and all the snow that was dumped on us a few weeks ago has melted off.  I can't be sure that winter is done with us yet, but at least we can enjoy the early mild spring, and the great building days that come with it.

   We were surprised this trip with an almost completed roof as far as the trusses go.  Progress has been slow for the past month so it's a great feeling to drive up the muddy path to the house and see such huge changes.  It looks like they got all the shipments they wanted for the trusses and the proof is in the pudding.  There are a few areas that still need some completion, but there are also some other areas that I didn't expect to be completed yet.

    Here's the great sight we were treated to when we came up on the house.  The ground was pretty firm despite the snow melt so it looks like they didn't have any trouble getting the crane in there to lift the trusses up.  You can see that there are still some trusses on the ground but it's obvious that almost all of it has been installed.

    A little bit more needs to be installed on the garage to finish it off.  There might be something tricky going on where the garage roof meets the house.  Also, the odd structure over the large garage door was unexpected.  The plans don't detail the truss structure, but they do show the roof, and there isn't any break in the slope here.  I'm not sure if this is just underlying structure or if it's something that affects the planes of the roof.  I guess we'll have to wait and see. 

   You can also see the walls of the master closet have been installed on the LiteDeck pad, and the trusses are supported on them.  Plywood sheathing has been installed on the wall and I expect it to be well insulated.  

    Here's a shot from inside the garage.  You can see the trusses attach to that odd structure, and the slope will probably continue down from there to form the overhang.  On the left of the frame is one of the laminated beams needed to support the truss structure that I talked about last update.  The odd structure attaches to that beam, which then carries the load of the rest of the trusses.

    Here's a shot in the garage looking towards the house.  You can see the laminated beam that the odd structure attaches to and how the Strong Ties hold the rest of the garage roof trusses.  Who knows why it had to be designed this way.  Maybe the span was too great for the trusses, with the slope the roof required.

   You can also see the corner of the master closet and how it will be encased in the trusses.  It's a tight fit and the roof might need to be built by hand here, which is why it hasn't been assembled yet.

    Here's the result of shifting the garage to mudroom door over by six inches.  The foam was cut away and the concrete was cut and chipped out.  I could see the cut rebar embedded in the concrete.  All that's left is to buck the opening on the left and build it out on the right.

    Here's the back of the house, where the gazebo will go.  You can see that the trusses extend only to the exterior wall of the house.  However, there will be a roof over the master balcony.  This roof will probably be completed by hand after the lower porch roof is sorted out.  The trusses offer a generous overhang from the house.  

    Here's what the second floor trusses look like from the ground floor rotunda.  A maze of 2x4 webbing bewildering to look at.  This is one stage where I have to have complete trust in the designers and installers because I have no idea what I'm looking for.  Yes, I know what the standard spacing should be and I can realize that there are some structures that should be watched out for, but besides that, I can only see the ceiling and roof decking.  Everything else inside is a mystery.

    Here are the trusses above the great room.  We decided to go with a flat ceiling pretty early on in the design process.  The ceiling of the room will already be twenty feet high so adding cathedral ceiling would just be a waste of heat.  We are thinking about having some kind of coffered or beamed ceiling up there to break it up and give it character.  You can see another laminated beam installed across the span that carries the transition between the house trusses and the greatroom trusses.  Many laminated beams were installed, especially on the second floor above the windows.

    Like this area for instance.  If you'll recall, this span was too great for the ICF to span alone, so a laminated beam is installed and will be sandwiched with foam to create the desired insulation value.  This beam carries the weight of the trusses since there isn't a gable or dormer end.

    Here's the back of the garage from the back porch.  You can see how much is left to finish and you can also see the laminated beam.  That beam actually runs along the Lite Deck that's used for the master closet so you can see how the roof trusses are delineated from the area that will be built by hand.  A truss system isn't needed in that area because the steel beam and master closest walls will be able to support the weight of the roof.  This might be one of the roof lines that will require a gutter to prevent rain back splash on the house.  I guess this could be mitigated with planting beds and rocks, but it would be nice to have a rain catchment system, even though we're surrounded by water.

    Here's the front of the house, looking at the laundry room window.  There's one more piece that goes on this gable end, and it's one that was assembled on the ground.  It will have the foam and house wrap installed.  You can see another laminated beam installed above this window and how recessed it sits from the foam wall.  This space will be filled with rigid foam to bring it flush with the wall and add insulation.  Solid wood, or in this case, laminated wood, has a pretty high insulation value already so adding foam on the inside and out will be good enough to increase it to acceptable levels.

    Here's what's going on with the turret right now.  The turret will be built with the steel studs and the turret roof will be built by hand.  The tie in between the turret roof and trusses will probably also have to be done by hand to prevent any areas where debris can accumulate.

    I grabbed a ladder and went up stairs to see how things looked on the second floor.  This is what the master closet looks like.  The corner sits a bit off the end of the slab above the garage.  The steel studs create a six inch thick wall cavity so the insulation will be sufficient.  Since it's such a small area, I'm going to push for spray foam to add air tightness to this room since it is above the garage.  I don't want any change for exhaust to creep into the house here.  There's a good amount of Lite Deck slab behind the right side wall.  It's tempting to make a secret area back there.  There won't be as much head room, but it might be enough for a safe or something.

   Here's the back side of the master closet.  You can see how the laminated beam rides right up along side the concrete pad.  Right under the edge of the pad is a steel beam.  I wouldn't be surprised if the laminated beam is bolted to the concrete.  You can see how much space there is outside the closet, even with the slope of the roof.  There should be access in the garage ceiling to get up here.  It might be a nice place to hide stuff.  As per code, the master closet wall will have to serve as a fire break from the garage so maybe I can't make access from the closet to this space.

    Here's what the greatroom looks like from the second floor now that the trusses are in place.  There's nine foot ceilings on both floors and the trusses definitely enclose the space a bit.  Plenty of space for lighting and sound in that ceiling.

    Here's the turret opening.  You can see they built out the ICF a bit.  I'm not sure why it was needed, but a major truss spans this area.  It's pretty amazing that you can have a completely open interior and have trusses that span the entire depth of the house without any internal load bearing walls.

    Another peak at the garage roof from the turret.  It almost looks like that structure above the garage doors will interrupt the roof line.  I suspect there will be some other 2x4 installed from the peak that will birdmouth to this structure and form another plane of roofing for this area.  There's definitely a break in the plane of the roof due to the increased depth of the garage.  The trusses supply the primary support structure and the yet to be constructed structure supplies the roof plane.  

    Here's the inside of the garage truss system.  Nice and tall to walk through. I can see a nice boardwalk going down the middle here to reach my hiding spot.  You can see how the structures are joined together with the nailing plates and nothing else.  That's a lot of faith in those plates.

   Here are the master bedroom and bathroom windows with their beams installed.  You also get to see a small pile of the steel studs used in the master closet.  These will probably be used for the turret as well, but not for the interior of the house walls.  We're using steel studs for interior walls, just not this thick.

   So there's a little more truss work that needs to be finished and the slower part, installing the roof decking, can start.  With the estimated completion for the roof at middle of April, we can finally start looking forward to getting some interior work done on this monster build.