Green Building Adventure | Phase I

Welcome to the Green Building Adventure!
The first step is to decide where the
post holes should be.
There is a hole near each mound of dirt.

I went out to check the holes on the
morning the posts were to go in.
I found that lots of little critters had
fallen in the holes, including this turtle.
Don't worry....no animals were injured during the Green Building Adventure.

David, our fearless builder, rescues a harmless, terrified worm snake before placing the posts.

We placed each post in the holes making sure each lined up properly with its neighbor. This is important to insure that the building is square.

We aligned each of the posts to line up with its neighbor. They were then staked into place so they wouldn't shift.

Mixing the cement for the post holes.
We tried as much as possible to use recycled and reclaimed materials, but sometimes that wasn't possible.

Each post was cemented into
place with 3 bags of cement.
These posts aren't going anywhere!
Notice the braces still on the posts.
They were removed once the cement set.

Check out our posts!
They are all square and straight
and are cemented into place.
This is a very, very important
step in the construction process.
If the posts are crooked,
your building will also probably
be crooked.

The ground is not level
so each post needed to be
measured and cut.
We used a surveyor's level to measure
and mark each post.

Our friend Gail filled
our post holes with dirt.
The dirt went on top of the cement.
She then tamped the dirt
to pack it down.

David went back to the marks
he made with the surveyor's level.
He cut the posts to the proper
height and then cut a notch.
This notch will hold
the floor.

Now it's starting to look like something!
Here is the frame for the
first floor. It's bolted to
the notches that David cut
into the posts.

Matthew begins building
the first floor. Here he
attaches the joists. Notice the
string on the left to ensure
that everything lines up properly.

Matthew and David add more
floor joists. They will
support the entire building so they
need to be very straight.

Matthew and David add the
end cap. This will help
secure the joists.

Matthew adds bridging to the
floor joists. These are short
pieces of wood that are nailed
between each joist to make
sure the joists don't
move or warp.

Matthew finishes adding the
bridging. Now the floor will
be really solid!

Matthew and David begin adding
floor boards. Each board
will be glued and nailed
to each joist.

Teamwork!
Matthew and David quickly install
the floor boards.
Now it's time to
go up!