PT 9: 2024 Garage Build – Framing

Finally at the exciting part, thanks for sticking with my story.

Selecting a (sub)contractor

First, a quick note on the construction crew. Although I am the “builder of record” on this job, and ultimately responsible for the success or failure of this project from soup to nuts, I have been contracting out portions of the work. My overarching principle is that I am hiring out anything that requires more than an 10′ ladder to accomplish. Tasks that can’t be done without specialized tools, or without multiple people, are also prime candidates to hire out. In particular, a framing job of this size needs a crew of experienced persons to get it done in a timely manner and without needing expensive tools. Could I have done it myself? I bet I could have, but I’d still be working on it (10 months later).

Because I am the contractor/permit owner on this job, there is a large portion of the construction community who is not interested in dealing with me. I understand their perspective – I am an inexperienced homeowner and, even worse, an engineer – who wants to have more control and will be inserting themselves into the process on a frequent basis. I also want to reduce their “GC’s cut” profit since I am controlling that part of the narrative.

I was able to find contractors who were willing to work within my asks though. These are GC’s who have the connections to multiple “sub crews” in the various disciplines (framing carpentry, trim carpentry, drywall, siding, roofing, etc.). Going with the standard “get 3 quotes”, I asked three companies to give me a price for a “Dried in shell”, labor only. I will provide all materials and consumables, all they need is manpower and tools.

Even with my specific list and constraints, I got quotes back that varied by almost $100k. This industry is wild to me, and I am learning ALOT along the way.

I asked 4 companies to provide prices. One I found on Nextdoor, and had no knowledge of other than the feedback given on the app (Company A) One was recommended by a friend from high school who I have not spoken with in almost 10 years other than on facebook (Company B). I visited a job site this company was working on in Cary, and spent about an hour talking to the owner. One was recommended by the old CEO of ChampCar, who is an acquaintance via their church (Company C). The last was a remodeling company owned by a racing friend, and one of his employees is one of my good high school friends although we don’t talk much anymore (Company D).

Company C was easy to eliminate based purely on price, as this was the High quote and almost double the other prices.

Company B was the next to be eliminated, as it was the second high quote and I could tell from the interactions that this company was a bit less comfortable with the “a la carte” pricing and contract I wanted to follow. The pricing in this quote was based on getting the entire job, including some parts I wanted to do myself and others which I had already selected a different vendor for.

Company D was the last minute wildcard. I was picking up some parts from the owner and discussing my plans in passing, and he offered to quote the work, with the adder that he was booked out for awhile. I am sure he would have done an excellent job, but his price was about 20% higher and his timeline sealed the deal.

That left Company A as my selection, even thought I had no personal references. As they were willing to agree to a written contract and required no payment up front, I felt fairly comfortable with the plan. I also had two meetings with the company, comprising of a father/son team, and this gave me confidence in their character. The winning company was “Jims Carpentry and Remodeling”, owned by Jim and Zach Amara.

Framing Day (1)

Finally, the big day arrives. The framing crew of 5 guys, along with Zach, arrived bright and early to kick it off.

It didn’t take long for the first wall to go up.

Before braking for lunch, they had laid out the end wall on the ground

By the end of the day, all 4 walls were up and temporarily braced, with the first of the sheeting already installed.

Framing Day (2)

Day 2’s job was to install the steel beam. This is a 32′ long beam W18x60, meaning 60lbs per foot and 18″ tall, making it almost 2000lbs of steel.

The metal beam crew of 3, supplied by Whitley, was quick and professional. Still extremely scary seeing a beam this size flying above my house hanging by a single strap.

Within minutes, they were done and gone, leaving the site silent for the rest of day 2

Framing Day (3)

On day 3, the main crew returned and more serious progress happened. The first step was to remove the 2nd story double-window, which required downsizing to a single so the roofline would work.

The rim joists going up outside makes it clear why this window had to be relocated. In addition to the window getting smaller width wise, It also ended up getting about 6″ shorter in height, so I had to build a short stem-wall. This is when I discovered my house was built without any sheathing in this area, just siding? This made it hard to account for all of the width since I had planned on having a small filler piece of sheathing, so I had to redo the plan twice.

At this point, the men built these temporary catwalk structures using some of the extra 2×4 material purchased. These were incredibly sketchy looking, but I got up on them a couple times and they were quite sturdy and not too scary to use. However, per my “working at heights” rule, I am happy to leave this to the professionals.

Using the catwalks, they knocked out the floor joists for the second story in short order.

While 2 men remained on the “scaffold”, two more men stayed on the ground. One would cut the beams square (no factory ends were kept), and to length, while the other ran the lumber from the cutter to the installers.

One compressor was shared among the whole crew, with tiny 1/4″ air lines feeding everyones air-power nail guns. NO electric guns on this crew, they say they are too slow. The compressor was an impressive DIY unit, with airlines popping off in every direction. The compressor is visible in the photo 2 below this, along with the receiver tank used to connect all of the lines to.

Day 3 ended with the second floor flooring laid out and installed, as well as the start of walls. All of the sheathing for the first floor was installed and nailed completely by this point, so the size and scale of the structure was starting to take shape.

The house wrap and dormer overhang were constructed/installed when the front dormer wall was horizontal. Once ready, it was lifted into position as a unit. Nails into the back of the 2×6 are used as a hinge, and these nails “bend” as part of the lifting process. The nails stay in place forever, and are hidden below the sheetrock where they aren’t noticed at all.

After the crew left, I was able to climb up to the top and take a look around.

The roof on the existing house was cut on day two, but I didn’t get to see it until the end because of its location.

Framing Day (4)

At this point, I was going back to the office during the day, so I was not able to be as involved or get as many photos during the working day. I would get a few minutes to discuss at 0700 when heading out, and then see their progress at 1900 when returning.

This is what I was treated to when returning home – the roof was taking shape! The runner is passing up a rafter to the team upstairs, with a few more leaning up ready to be lifted. The silhouette in the dormer window shows the fish-mouth is already cut to fit the wall on the backside of the addition.

Framing Day (5)

This is when the rain started. We went from months of great weather to a solid week of downpours, which soaked all of my lumber and turned the upstairs into a puddle. I know its part of construction and the sheeting, wood, etc are all rated for some moisture, but it really felt weird to see so much water.

They made progress in the morning, but it started raining on them so they had to knock off early. These photos were taken in the evening after the rain had let up.

I wish I was there to see how they did it, because during this day is when they lifted the biggest wooden beam in the job upstairs. The central beam down the middle of the 2nd floor (top of below image) is 32′ long, 14′ deep, and 2″ thick. It must weigh a couple of hundred pounds.

This is taken from the other room, showing even more bracing and catwalk supports. What you can’t see in the photos are all the nails – I bet the nails used are only about 75% of the total, with the other 25% being dropped or otherwise ending up on the ground.

This is where the water ended up pooling the most. Combined with the sawdust, this was very hard to get dry again, and I was really worried about the edges of the boards warping up. I ended up popping a few small holes through the floorboards to let the water drain down onto the concrete below.

The roof rafters were well on their way to completion during these photos. The upper carpenters were standing on catwalks constructed to let them have perfect access.

Framing Day (6)

Only a partial workday due to weather, and I was at the office, so only an end-of-day photo to share. They got the roof rafters complete, built out the end overhang framing, and started on the dormer roof.

Framing Day (7)

Another partial workday, but all of the main roof sheeting was installed around the rain coming through. Its really starting to take shape at this point, and it looks striking coming down the driveway!

Framing Day (8)

After a week and a half of work days, the framers are nearing the end. The framers finished the hip roof on the 3rd bay, but I missed getting any photos of this by getting stuck at work.

This photo is via my headlights upon returning home in the rain. Removing the bracing and catwalks makes it look almost finished. The roof sheeting made zero difference in the amount of moisture ingress, the headlights highlight the concrete being completely soaked on the first story. Trust me when I say, the second story is soaked as well.

This is the same angle, but in the daylight. This was taken about a week later, but the structure is in the same state.

Framing wrap-up

At this point the framing crew de-mobilized. The only remaining tasks were to build the stair and cut the holes into the existing structure. I wanted to hold off on this until I was able to get the doors and windows installed. They did a good job cleaning up, but the dumpster filled up so they had to pile the extra next to it. I ordered another dumpster, and cleaned up/organized all of the remaining materials. Any lumber not cut/nailed/damaged I was able to return to Garris Evans for a store credit, which was amazing (Ended up netting me almost $1000).

I got the Kei truck involved with moving all the extra lumber. These 16 footers were all clean and able to be sent back, but I wanted to restack them where they could be easily picked up with a moffit, as well as keep them on the driveway and out of the dirt to protect them as much as possible.

After quite a few hours of struggling to move some very large lumber, and re-stacking this pile a couple of times, this is what I ended up with for “left overs”. I would consider this a massive success, as this is quite a small pile and this was my first go at doing a a “takeoff”

I moved the leftover sheathing inside to keep it out of the rain as much as possible. It was also picked up and returned on the same truck.

Inspection

To wrap up this already long post, I need to cover inspections. In wake county, the framing inspection is combined as a single inspection with mechanical, electrical, and plumbing. Therefore, you can’t get the inspection until all 3 M/E/P trades are complete, in addition to the framing. This put me in a tough spot, because my contract with the framer was closing, and he (rightly) expected payment. However, the timeline for me to complete the M/E/P trades was months (6 months, as it would turn out). Therefore, I made the decision to request the combined inspection even without any trades complete, in order to get a first look from the inspector at the framing issues. This would end up costing me an inspection fee (it actually didn’t, as the inspector was kind and waived the failed inspection off as a “conference”). This way I could have the framer correct these issues while he was onsite, issue his final payment, and be set on framing going into M/E/P.

The inspector came on 02 October, and it was fortunate that I went this route as he did find a handful of issues that I had to correct. The following 9 issues were identified, communicated to the framer, and summarily corrected.

• 1. Point load stud columns (SC) are missing from a couple places.   He noted that these need to be accurately placed, and require blocking within the flooring system level (above the top plate, below the decking).  There are 4 missing from the downstairs rear wall underneath the window openings.  There are 6 missing from the interior wall downstairs. There is one in the north (short) wall between the door and the house, the SC is in place but there is no blocking above the top plates to transfer the load.  Upstairs there is a 4 SC missing in the middle.
• 2. There are missing joist hangers on the 3 joists that dead end into the stair.  This may be still “pending” because we haven’t built the stair yet, so I explained that to him.
• 3. He expressed concern at the double-joist to the rear-side of the stair opening, which is supported by a 1×1 ledger that is nailed to the existing structure and new structure.  He suggested installing a Simpson L90 bracket on the rear side.  I will purchase this bracket and resolve the issue.
• 4. Fire blocking is missing from the downstairs interior wall
• 5. Stud columns 4 studs or more require strapping 30″ oc, 6″ max from plates, on inside face for ext walls and on both faces for int. walls.
• 6. Hipp roof and Dormer Roofing areas require additional blocking for the sheeting, anywhere sheeting is <24″ needs a 2×4 supporting at the joints
• 7. Rear windows on 2nd flr are missing 1 king stud each (Plan says 1j/3k, installed as 2j/2k)
• 8. Collar ties at the top of the rafters are missing.  2×4 at 48″OC at upper 1/3 of rafter
• 9. Rafter Ties are not at perpendicular angles to the rafters.  Specifically the rear of the 2nd floor, he was unhappy with the rafter ties and asked to either re-do with perpendicular offset or replace with Simpson hurricane clips.

I think thats enough for this post, so thanks for sticking with me this far. On to Roof, Doors, Windows, cutting holes in the house, and M/E/(no p)