Framing the Bent Tree House
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Our first framing task was to build the frames for the front sliding glass doors at the basement level along with the center post that would support the beam across the center of the basement. Len is adding a few last nails to the cap. June 12, 1975. |
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We were adding the basement to the house materials we had bought, and the first stage was to prepare the bottom level to support the house above. |
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After the front framing, we tackled the positioning of the long support beam under the center of the upper structures. |
Len and Rod work on assembly of the main support beam across the basement. We decided to go with a flitz plate structure with three 2x10's glued up with 3/4 plywood flitz plates between them. We clamped, bolted and glued the beam in place.
This is the view of the beam structure toward the front of the house. It was supported on a steel post in front and supported in the back by the concrete post and ledge that we had designed into the back wall.
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Sherry works on the tarring and plastic for the part of the wall that will be below grade. We put a gravel bed and drain tile down about a foot below the slab level. |
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We got the basic floor joist structure up by June 14 and were able to cover it with plastic by the time we got our first rain. We considered ourselves very fortunate. |
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We could now set up our camp kitchen and Coleman stove in the basement and had a reasonably dry place to camp out. June 22. |
We had mostly good weather for the erection of the side walls on the main floor, including the framing of the glass doors for that level. We had a ladder to the main floor and Brenda takes Jeff and Mark up in the morning for a lood around.
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It was all great fun, but by the time we got to the end of the day, no one had to rock us to sleep. Len had been loading wall frames up to the main floor all day. |
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Late afternoon view of the framed walls, with Len making one final load. |
Framing the interior walls with a little help from our friends. Dennis Fennell came up to help us with the interior framing. June 28.
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The main floor wall framing takes shape in the deep woods. |
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The rains came again, and we had compromised our plastic sheeting with all the framing work. We find Dennis in the basement under an umbrella. |
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| Starting the trusses and the roof structure. |
1975
Bent Tree