Heavy Lifting

After a lot of measuring, sawing, and chiseling we finally finished all 13 of the floor beams. I am going to add some carriage bolts to each beam after they are in place for extra strength. I got through quite a few podcasts while working on these beams. One thing I learned was the importance of good quality safety glasses. I was struggling to see my saw line with the old scratched ones I had and when I got some nicer ones I didn’t even notice I was wearing them.

A friendly neighbour helped me load the beams onto a trailer and we hauled them out to the build site where Royall’s parents helped Royall and I unload them on to the concrete piers. The longest ones are about 200 pounds each. Royall got her finger caught between one of the beams and a concrete pier and got a bruised finger to remember the occasion. My arms and fingers were pretty sore for a couples days after.

Despite the heavy load, setting the beams on the concrete piers was very satisfying, watching the notches fit together and seeing the base of the house take shape. There is still lots of work to do with these beams. The next steps are to get them in the exact square location and anchor them to the piers. To do this I am going to drill a hole through the beams which will make a spot for the threaded rod to go through and also mark an anchoring spot on the concrete. We will then rent a rotary hammer and drill 8” into the concrete and use anchoring epoxy to set 5/8” threaded rod into the concrete. The beams can then be lifted up an set down onto the piers with the threaded rod going through the holes of the beam. We will then level the beams with shims and tighten them down at the anchoring points.