Our first day of construction on the Graham project started off like this:
Construction site at 7:30am - Day 1
The site basically is bare with the exception of some temporary fencing to protect the local Juniper tress, and nine concrete footings.
Concrete footing for steel columns
Over the course of the morning, workers quickly installed our pre-fabricated steel columns on to the footings.
Pre-fabricated steel column set on footing
Bolting the column to the footing
After all columns were installed and leveled, our light gauge C beams were bolted to the columns, creating the core structure of the floor of the house.
Bolting light gauge C's to columns
The eight extremely strong one-inch bolts that we use to connect the columns and beams create what is called a moment connection, basically a fixed connection which eliminates the need for cross-bracing. This bolted, connection one of the keys to our frame, is one of the key reasons why we have no load bearing-walls, large open spaces, and can have much glass in our buildings without any X bracing.
Frame with joist clips installed
We then installed joist-clips, which will allow us to hang the floor joists.
By the end of the day, the small construction crew had put together the vast majority of the steel frame, including some of the main roof components.
Start of roof framing
It was a great first day of construction and we are very happy with our progress in this absolutely fantastic and picturesque landscape. Since we have no hammers and no saws on-site, construction noise was kept to a bare minimum, making sure that the neighbors were also able to enjoy the terrific day in peace.
Yucca Valley, CA
The next day of construction will include the completion of the installation of all structural members and the leveling and tightening of the frame. Stay tuned for updates.
