Green Building Adventure | Phase I

Ecological Creations pulled down part
of the second floor of their shop.
We took the flooring, joists, and other
lumber for the Green Building Adventure.
Here, Seth cuts a steel plate
that will be used to support
our second floor.

The plate is cut!
Now it's ready to go into
the Green Building Adventure!

See the floor joists for the second floor?
They're nice! The dark boards
are heart-pine from Cabbagetown.
We had to buy new lumber to
make up the difference.
Up we go!!

Stairs!
We made winder stairs to go up faster without
using up precious floor space.

Here is the first layer of
wood for the stairs.
Ultimately, they'll have three layers
to make them super-sturdy.

Here you can see two layers
of wood on the stairs.
We'll add the third layer
after construction is finished.

The steel plate is installed!
Our building is now sturdy enough
to support a tractor trailer.
We like to over-engineer whenever possible.

Here is a side view
of the wood layers that make the stairs.
The joints are staggered
so they'll be super-strong.

Sheathing begins!
Sheathing is the wood that goes on the outside
of the studs. Modern construction
uses plywood or particle board.
Before plywood, people used diagonal sheathing.
This is where you take thin boards and attach
them at 45 degree angles. It makes
the structure very, very sturdy.
We're using the wood from Mr. Heffner's
barn as sheathing.

Sara and Jill begin
the sheathing process. It's
a BIG job!

The first sheathing crew! Thanks Jill and Sara!
You got us off to a great start!

Sheathing continues!
Now you can see where the window will go.
The sheathing will bo covered on the outside,
but we'll leave it exposed
on the inside.

The first wall is
sheathed! This is the cedar-decking wall with
Mr. Heffner's barn as the sheathing.
Pretty!

Dave checks the squareness of the first
wall for the second floor.
We didn't have enough barnwood
for all the sheathing,
so this wall has particle board to make it sturdy.
It will be hidden by our storage shelves
so folks won't see the ugly boards.

Oren and Dave hold up the
wall and make sure it's level.
The second floor begins!

Dave holds the second
wall while Russell secures
the top plate.

Mom helps measure
for the next sheathing board.
Only two more walls to go!

Here's the Green Building
before the sheathing is added,
but after the rafters and purlins have been
installed. We're getting ready
for the roof!

Rafters and purlins....
We'll be closed in soon!
The roof is almost flat because we'll
have a garden up there.
That's also why we used such large
lumber as the rafters and purlins.

I know a roof is necessary,
but for now, it's so nice to see
the sky through the rafters and purlins.

Each rafter is notched to sit
on the top plate.

This will be a window
and there will be a sliding glass door
in the space on the right.

Oren helps cut more boards
to be used as sheathing. Each board is cut
at a 45 degree angle....
diagonal sheathing requires lots and lots
of cutting. Thanks Oren!

The roof goes on!
We're using heavy guage industrial metal
as the roof. This way it will
be sturdy enough to support
a garden and folks walking
up there. The metal is mismatched
scrap left over from various jobs
from a local builder.

Dave and David pass up
another piece of metal.
The roof is almost done!

The roof is on!
We're ready for rain!
Now to finish the walls, windows, and doors...