Beams

With all the exterior walls done we can start thinking about the second floor. The design of the house has a steep roof not only because we like steep roofs but to allow for some living space upstairs. Spanning across the top of the main floor exterior walls will be 6x8 beams spaced two feet apart. These beams will hold up the second floor and also tie into the roof rafters to form a strong triangle.

To source the timbers we called all over the province to see what is available and to get pricing. We ended up getting the beams from a five generation family business. Really fun place to see and drive around.

There are 28 6x8 beams and one 7.5x10 beam pictured here. This bigger beam will notch into the framing of the house at the junction of the L-shape. Some of the 6x8 beams will sit on top of it. It will be very visible part of the house as you will see it in the main living area and walk under it when going into the main level hallway.

Willy’s had his biggest job yet getting this load from Cochrane to it’s final home at the Good Land. I rented a trailer that was rated high enough for the load and Willy’s was at his max towing capacity. There were a few hills on the way home that slowed him down to a crawl but he channeled his inner little blue engine and made it like a champ.