Building a stick frame house in the woods in 90 days

[pacerron]

I was surprised to see the 2x floor joists, as I haven't seen them used here since the early 90's. Most 2x's are pretzel wood here. The most common floor joist I see for residential use in my area is the TJI style followed by the built up joist using 2x4 framing.

Part of that is related to transportation costs. Southern yellow pine is a very strong, heavy hard wood. Try weighing a foot long scrap against a piece of fur, spruce or whatever is used in your area. Try cutting both with a handsaw across grain or with the grain.
Even try it with a power saw and carbide blade and listen to the motor. Try driving a 16 penny nail through both pieces of scrap.
In normal ( hired labor ), construction material cost is 1/3 the cost and labor is 2/3 and that ratio doesn't change much if you use quality materials. In some cases the labor is even less when quality material is used.
The thing is... when the job is done 2/3 of the costs drive away in pick-up trucks and you are left to live with either a quality house or one
that is only hyped to be by the builder and materials industry.
In my opinion, you cannot beat southern yellow pine for quality floor joists, if you read the grain and sight them for correct placement.
Many will argue that engineered wood products.. spline joined scraps become 2x4's and sawdust and glue become all types of things used in construction, is just as good or better... but I don't even like the way it looks...
Ron

 

[pclausen]

Spoke to the builder and he cant' do metal screw type post now since code requires that they be poured into the floor rather than rest on top of them. He assured me the 6x6 will not be a problem. He has used them for the last 20 years and has yet to have an issue. When they cut them to length, they are cut slghtly long to create a crown in the floor line. Also, the tile floors they will be installing will be floating.

And he confirmed that those wood spacers on the Superior Walls holding up the 2x12s are temporary and will be replaced with metal spacers.

Ron, thanks for the lesson on Southern yellow pine. That tree growns all over the place around here. They call it loblolly, and that is the stand on this lot actually. A log truck loaded with Yellow pine logs hits the scales at the yard at right around 100k lbs!

I'm out of town until Saturday, so no pics until then. Sorry!

 

[pacerron]

Your mom's house will probably be fine supported by wooden posts. We were just surprised to see that wooden posts were going to be the final supports after observing the concrete pads they supplied with center holes and the depictions on their drawings of round tubular columns comming from them.
Your contractor probably explained the building code in your area as it has been interpreted by the construction he has done in the past that has passed in your area. That is fine. The only way you could call him on it would be to read the code and talk to the local inspector yourself. If you go that far you should talk to the fire protection service in that area as well to see what they do when called upon to fight a fire in a residence supported only by wooden posts. It really is stirring a can of worms with the govt. that should probably be left alone. The contractor probably knows his post method will pass or he wouldn't do it.
Many rather crude ways have been used to support houses in the past and most of them have worked rather well, even though they would not come close to meeting any codes for new construction today. The majority of houses still being built today that have basements have poured foundations and foundation pads are dug and poured at the same time for beam support columns. Then when the walls are poured and/or layed the beam, either wood or steel, is put in the pockets and supported by lally columns of steel or post jacks. Then after the floor is finished above or even after the house is completely framed and roofed, the basement floor is poured around the posts. That generally is what the codes are written around, so exceptions have to be made or approved for other types of construction.
You mentioned the basement bathroom walls were not going to be built at this time. Your final drawing shows about an 18 foot span between posts there, with no post pad at about the corner of the bathroom wall where the HVAC unit was to be. Had the designer planned on that bathroom wall to be under and support the beam in that area?
I better shut up and just enjoy your photography.
Ron

 

[EddieWalker]

Spoke to the builder and he cant' do metal screw type post now since code requires that they be poured into the floor rather than rest on top of them. He assured me the 6x6 will not be a problem. He has used them for the last 20 years and has yet to have an issue. When they cut them to length, they are cut slghtly long to create a crown in the floor line. Also, the tile floors they will be installing will be floating.

From everything I've seen so far, I have no reason to doubt your contractor. He seems pretty good and knows what he's doing. But I have seen time after time where a contractor will say something is "code" to not have to do it another way. I don't know what code is there or if he is right or wrong, but I would look up what is code on those posts myself just to make sure.

I'm not familiar with a floating tile floor. How does that work? What is the advantage? Is it easier or more work?

Eddie

 

[pacerron]

I'm not familiar with a floating tile floor. How does that work? What is the advantage? Is it easier or more work?
Eddie

Me either, I'd like to know how that works?
It is common to put fake/thin/hardwood floor veneer laminate on floating foam, but I don't see how thick ceramic floor tile, mastic and grout could be done that way.
I'm glad to see you, as a contractor, bring up using the codes as an excuse. I was chicken to be that blunt, but you can see from what I said above, that we were thinking the same thing. But neither of us are saying this is the case here.

 

[dstig1]

Wood is actually better in structural fires than steel. Wood retains strength as it burns. Once steel gets to a certain temp (1700 deg or so) it softens and collapses.

Ron, you are worried about the wrong thing here. Wood also dies not shrink to any degree that matters along the grain. Cross-grain is a very different story. Posts have zero shrinkage, for all practical purposes. If you had a floor sag, it was either built that way, the footings settled or something else shrunk (like the joists - cross-grain....). You shouldn't blame the post there.

 

[pacerron]

Ron, you are worried about the wrong thing here. Wood also dies not shrink to any degree that matters along the grain. Cross-grain is a very different story. Posts have zero shrinkage, for all practical purposes. If you had a floor sag, it was either built that way, the footings settled or something else shrunk (like the joists - cross-grain....). You shouldn't blame the post there.

Dave,
I have no problems with floors in my home. Please start at his day 1 of construction and read the entire thread before making any assertions.
I know that lengthwise shrinkage is nil in kiln dried wood. Also that a hollow column is just as strong as a solid one if it is made of the right material and assembled right. The beams are what shrink in their nominal 12" width depending on their dryness factor when laminated together with curvature of the grain of each piece flipped. His mother's whole house is sitting on a bed of gravel for a foundation. This makes it a little different from standard construction, and perhaps better. Only time, ground characteristics, the forces of mother nature, and the quality of the work will tell; same as any other construction.
We don't want to get too deep into any of this. Pete is a very intelligent man, and knows that 2 cents plus most of our opinions will only gain him 2 cents. He has to make the final decisions. He was nice enough to share his project with lots of detailed pictures with the TBN addicts, and as I recall, asked for ideas and opinions.
We don't mean to bring up anything that might get him upset and take the fun out of building a new home for his mom, and should probably become just a silent observer.
Ron

 

[pclausen]

It's all good! You guys are not going to make me mad in the slightest.

The builder did mention the wooden post would shrink a very small amount cross grain. I too did wonder about the 7 concrete pads, complete with center holes. They were handy for lifting them into the basement area. They used the same hooks in the holes that all the walls have, so they *may* not have been specifically for metal poles, although that seems very logical.

Builder called me and let me know that all the walls are up. Looking forward to checking them out when I get back in town tomorrow!

 

[MarkV]

Builder called me and let me know that all the walls are up. Looking forward to checking them out when I get back in town tomorrow!

Can't believe you left town to work when all of us TBN'ers are waiting for photo's!

Thanks for sharing your build with us.

MarkV

 

[MacLawn]

Yeah, working when we need our photo fix!