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Framing the House – Episode 8 of Building a Farmhouse

We are moving along and trying to catch up with our Building a Farmhouse series. Today we are talking about the framing.

Before we began the build we were having trouble finding a framer for our home. Nelson didn’t have any connections and a lot of the people that were recommended had moved away or retired. This was really starting to stress us out.

Then one day we noticed a house going up about 10 minutes from where we live. They looked like they were doing a good job as far as we could tell, and the house was going up rather quickly. So I suggested to Nelson that he stop by and see who was building the house. And that is what he did.

He got to meet the GC in charge of the build (who happened to be a really nice older gentleman). He recommended the guys he was working with and Nelson scheduled an interview.

We got a really good feeling about him during our first talk, and we even went out to one of his other more “complex” builds back in Georgia and once we saw the house he was building there, we were convinced he was equipped to do the job.

So we hired him.

Due to the size and specific plans of our house, the perimeter was built with 2 x 6 studs instead of the conventional 2 x 4’s. This will ultimately make for a stronger frame.

The guys began with chalk-lining all of the exterior and interior walls on the slab. Then the perimeter walls went up one by one. It was nice to see the spaces come to life as the walls were being installed.

We also got to make a few adjustments on the floor plan since we were there and could make those changes as we went along. I was there almost every day with Nelson making sure all was coming together the way I needed it to.

It was fun and a little nerve-racking at times since this was the first time I did something like this… and what if I got something wrong?

If you look at the image below you can see the safe room in the far back.

Once the first floor was mostly completed, then it was time to add the floor trusses for the second floor. And after that the roof trusses had to be installed.

Nelson had these engineered and prefabricated. We figured since this was something we had never dealt with before that we should let the “professionals” handle it. However, there still were some adjustments that needed to be made by our framer, so they weren’t perfect per se.

The second floor trusses needed to be installed via crane so Nelson had to make sure he scheduled it just right. It was really expensive to have a crane and crane operator out there and Nelson needed the work to be done all in one day to make the best of the money spent.

And he managed to do it. It was amazing to see it all go up in one day.

It was so amazing that our front door neighbors came out with drinks and sat on their front porch and watched the whole thing as it happened. I would have too, if I saw that happening in front of my house too, so I couldn’t blame them, LOL!

After that, the sheathing on the exterior of the home was installed. Not only do you really get to see what the house looks like after this step but it also “holds in” and makes the house stronger.

And then after the sheathing is installed, the house is wrapped, which is the first step in drying in the house.

And that was basically it for the framing of the house.

Nelson answers even more questions about the framing in our video below. Plus, you get to see the framing go up and it really was something amazing to watch, and we think you will appreciate it too.