We Lay The Last Stone

Approximately four months from the time we laid the first stone, we laid the last. It feels great to be moving on to a different phase of the project.

This is what it looked like after we finished for the night. We were really trusting our stone working skills, by finishing in the dark.

Then, we celebrated our success.

Today we began putting the GluLam beams into the pockets we made in the walls. FYI, if you need to make box outs for beam pockets in a concrete wall, don't use wood. If I had to do it all over again, I would try foam. The wood was jammed in there tight even though we oiled them before their use. It took us a long time to remove them.

With the help of good friends with strong backs, we picked up each beam and hefted them into place.




We wrapped the ends that would be inside the wall with roofing felt to protect them from condensation that can occur when wood comes into contact with concrete in the right conditions. We left the plastic wrap on to protect them from precipitation until the roof goes up.

Jenn was a master at stapling the felt on after wrapping them in Christmas present fashion.

We got 5 of the eight beams into place, we'll finish the rest tomorrow. There are four 21 footers and four 24 footers. We estimate that they weigh in at about 500 pounds or so. We were tired and very thankful for the help that showed up. Stay tuned for the reveal of the south gable.