Support Walls
September 30, 2011 |
10 Comments
posted by Ana White
Momplex Stats
Money Spent So Far:
$47,000 + Cost of Property
Time Spent So Far:
760 Hours on Site + TONS of Planning You know all to well, DIY saves money.
And on this most monster of DIY projects - a duplex for our mothers fondly referred to as the Momplex - not hiring contractors has saved us quite a bit of money.
But it's the little things, the small decisions over time, that really add up. It's using materials smartly to minimize waste and reusing scraps that are the silver lining.
And when you are the one writing the check, you really take a minute to consider what you are buying, and how you can cut costs.
Structural Engineer
It is always a good idea to take your floor plan to a structural engineer, and that's exactly what we did. But we never had a chance to sit down and talk about all the details - we basically just gave him the floor plan and picked up the structural recommendations.
Engineer Recommendations
We followed all of the recommendations so far, and the Momplex is one sturdy, well built structure as a result.
But when we went to order the floor, I suddenly got cheap.
You see, each of those blue boards cost a staggering $500 a piece.
Now if we were contractors spending someone else's money, I would never have even considered alternatives. We probably would have just put the order in and kept on building, not considering if there might be a more efficient way of doing things.
But I could see $2000 in savings - not to mention time savings as well.
Can you see it too?
There's $2000 just sitting in that diagram.
(drawings for illustrative purposes only - not exact construction drawings)
Support Walls Under Support Beams
On the Momplex, the stairs are boxed in with walls to separate out the garage and bonus room. The engineered diagrams called for double LVLs (Laminated Veneer Lumber - or just a beam made up of boards glued together that is incredibly strong) on top of these support walls. Each LVL is $500, and we'll need four on top of these support walls. That's $2000 in LVLs (in addition to the LVLs that the joists tie into).
But do we really need them?
(drawings for illustrative purposes only - not exact construction drawings)
Taller Support Walls
Why not just make the support walls taller and scrap the LVLs? We are already buying the boards and building the wall - building the wall 16" taller is not going to cost us a penny more and will save us tons of time.
Putting the LVLs in there is like modge podging our tickets to Hawaii (our yearly sanity saving vacation when Alaska gets very cold and very dark) under the floor. $2000 is alot of money to us!
(drawings for illustrative purposes only - not exact construction drawings)
Win-Win
So that's the plan - we'll build the walls on either sides of the stairs to the height of the floor joists, and plywood overtop. This also gives us a very strong and accessible place to frame the stair platform to, not to mention already framed walls to finish the stair openings (we plan on using the space under the stairs for utilities and storage).
So often I find myself a support system when building, rather than getting to actually do the building :( . It seems every time I get all my work done at home, get the children occupied, and go up to the Momplex to help, I'm just tasked with ordering lunch or ordering materials. Somedays, I feel like I'm no help at all, just someone to run errands and support those who are working.
But these small things are actually a big help. Someone has to do it, and good planning saves everyone time and money. There's nothing wrong with being a support wall - unless you are supporting a supported beam.
Floor Arrives
We ordered the floor - thank goodness, I can't imagine loading and hauling those joists!
It's sad to think the trees are ready for snow ...
This is the floor for the Momplex.
Guess what we are doing this weekend?
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I Want My Block Back
September 28, 2011 |
posted by Ana White
Momplex Stats
Money Spent So Far:
$39,000 + Cost of Property
Time Spent So Far:
680 Hours on Site + Planning 
On this most beautiful of days, we went up to the Momplex to check on the slab. We are anxious to get back to work after a little time off while the slab pour cures.
What possibly could go wrong on a day like this one?
The slab had cured beautifully, with water pooling over the covered garage drains, just like we hoped it would.
We are so proud of the finished slab, it is so beautiful and smooth. All our hard work and patience definitely paid off!
But our feelings of satisfaction and relief that our slab pour was done right and well are short lived. Take one last gander ...
Because as we drove out of the Momplex, eager and excited to get back to work, we noticed our ARXX blocks were looking not how they should be. Remember, we've got one more story to go of ARXX blocks, and these are the building materials we will need very shortly.
And remember, this is what the ARXX blocks looked like the last time we checked.
Our first thought was wind. We did have 60MPH winds. But the ARXX blocks have been placed in a sheltered location, and have resisted the wind so far ... hmmmmm ...
As we approached the blocks, we noticed that an entire pallet of blocks, had actually been picked up and rotated around. And the ground is littered with pieces of foam blocks.
Let's not forget that while these blocks are lightweight, an entire pallet of them takes four people to move.
Something is up, and we are pretty sure it's not the wind.
We ruled out sabotage, and we don't believe in Bigfoot.
There are no teeth marks.
Lots of damage, but no claw marks ...
What could do this sort of damage?
Thousands of dollars in blocks destroyed.
Crushed corners ... these are the spendy ones.
Who would do this to us???
And why? Seriously, someone needs counseling.
We didn't know what else to do, but just pick up the undamaged blocks, and load them on the trailer and take them to our house where we can protect them. So block by block, we hand loaded the trailer, and tied the blocks down and brought them home.
We hauled blocks well past dark, salvaging what we could.
We do live in Alaska along side moose, and it is rutting season. I guess it just comes with the territory.
So if you happen to run into this moose, please tell him, we want our block back.
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