Let the building begin. My brother Barry officially retired on March 31st after 42 years in the Carpenter's Union. He has owned 28 acres in Herkimer NY for the past decade, intending to build his dream home upon retirement.
Before retiring he was able to get a good jump on this project, getting out of the ground and completing the basement and the floor system, now it's time to throw some wood around.
Being that his location is just 76 miles from my home, lending him a hand is something that I've been looking forward to doing. It has been a while since we worked side by side. I explained to him how the word work should no longer be part of his vocabulary and should be replaced with the word hobbitizing. He couldn't agree with me more.
Before I go any further with showing you the actual build, I thought it would be a good idea to show you what the finished project will look like.
After the sill plates are fastened to the subfloor, a double wall plate is temporarily fastened to the sill plate. The double-wall plates will be removed as the wall studs are fastened to them. The wall plates support and distribute the pressure from either the joists or rafters that will land on them as things progress.
With the wall studs fastened to the double top plates, it's time for a picture of the crew. With the crew comprised of just the two of us, the top plates have been constructed to allow us to split them so that we can stand smaller sections of the wall. With a larger crew, the entire 40-foot wall would have been able to be lifted into place as one piece.
Brother Barry was all smiles as his dream starts to take shape.
At the end of our third day, all of the walls had been stood. Kelly kept us well-fed and supplied us with a never-ending jug of coffee. I think her motive was to keep us from doing what you see here, sit down on the job. 😁
The other gentleman you see in this picture is our brother-in-law John. He lives around the corner. He was also a Union carpenter and Barry's mentor for several years. At the age of 80, he still gets around pretty well. As this project moves forward I'm sure he'll be strapping his tool belt on and lending a hand.
finishing the wall framing involved installing the headers for the doors and window openings.
The house is situated on top of a mountain and has a spectacular view,
so the more glass the better.
With the pump jacks and aluminum pick set up, installing the sheathing went pretty well. The Zip Sheathing is somewhat heavier than traditional plywood, but the time-saving factor is huge.
By the end of the 6th day of hobbitizing, this is what we had accomplished.
with the help of a crane and a few extra hands.
I have house music in my earbuds right now. As I scrolled those images, build up of from the music couldn't have been better timed then..
Boom b-boom boom-boom b-boom.
Dang! You guys know how to throw a party.
With both of us now retired, working side by side was a party, but usually I break a sweat from dancing not carrying building materials around.
Once the project is finished, which should take about year, then the real party will start.
The first time that I see such a detailed system of building a house in the USA.
Pure construction carpentry by two very experienced souls will always turn out to be the very best.
Unfortunately with our weather systems wooden houses don't last long here and we are still building with bricks on concrete foundations. The danger of wild fires are also to be considered and security is a big issue over here.
But in saying this, I would love to build one of those houses, as it looks like a real adventure.
How long does it take to complete a house?
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Barry hopes to have the house completed within a year. He is doing almost all of the work himself, including the plumbing and the electrical.
The view from his place is spectacular and that's what attracted him in the beginning. Concrete homes do provide a greater sense of security and they will surely stand up better than wood if a fire were to break out.
Have a splendid weekend my friend.
Barry is very experienced, and so are you. A year should be enough time for him to complete his masterpiece and whenever one does something by the self, it is so much more appreciated.
I saw that view, as it was the first thing that I looked at and it is indeed a great view. Especially from the rooms upstairs. Weather patterns differ across the world and down here in the deep south of the African continent, the gale force winds from the Atlantic Ocean can reach terrifying speeds.
I read an interesting article about building quake and wind proof 3D houses in South Africa and it seems that a partnership will be concluded by the government to start building them. Apparently, a new house will only take 5 days to be completed. Imagine that!
Thank you and may your guys also have a good weekend.
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All hands on deck to get what looks to be a grand home and great achievement by the family.
How fortunate you all are having parents who taught the skills of the trade in carpentry, I now go on assumption Fathers laid the groundwork here. Knowing you passing this knowledge along through families is another to be proud of.
!LUV to the family and look forward to seeing the final on this build.
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You are so right. Dad was a carpenter and passed his love and skills with working with wood onto all of his three sons. Our three boys do all projects that involve building for themselves. What a money saver.
I will be doing several posts on the build as the project moves along.
Thanks for the luv!
Always a thrill to see families pass down trades, something to carry throughout life saving along the way.
Look forward to seeing this project reaching fruition, you mentioned it some time ago, now it's starting to be developed it's exciting.
Wowww this and wonderful work, your brother is a great carpenter . Thank you for giving us this beauty and sharing so that we can enjoy it. I look forward to the next part. A thousand blessings for this home @thebigsweed ✨
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Thank you for taking a look at this post. Your upvote is greatly appreciated. Have a wonderful day.
Wonderful work, it deserves to be appreciated. Beautiful day to you too @thebigsweed ✨
The Jurgs are amazing craftsmen. So glad I married one.
What a beautiful home this is going to be, so happy for them.
How very cool! Amazing the amount you 2 got done in a few days! Hope we get another post on future work, as I'd love to see it going up and being finished.
You have gone through a construction project yourself, so you probably understand better than most just what is involved. Every time I look, you seem to have another project going.
I will be doing several posts on the build as the project moves along.
Yeah, I ran out of money, so the house is being finished piecemeal. So yeah, bits of projects happen off and on. I'll be watching for more building posts!
Money is always an issue for most of us, but you do what you can and so far, everything you're doing looks great.
As you can see in these pictures, a lot of hard work has been done, your brothers are doing their work very well and beautifully. This house looks very beautiful and is very smartly planned.
The planning took place for over a year and it's nice to finally be able to bang some nails.
Team work sure does make things go a little easier.
Yeah you are right. When they all work together, the work becomes easier.
Ahaan, 42 years is a long journey, but as now he is retired, he can focus on dreams that he want to achieve when he was working, but couldn't do that, because of the work load or any other reason. He is doing the right thing to build a house for himself and his family. 28 acres is a very big piece of land, how many people will live on this land? how many family members are they?
That sure is a long time and retiring was a long time coming.
This is the second house Barry has built, the first one was a two-story home that our parents and Barry loved in.
Just Barry and his wife will live there for now, but they are finishing an apartment downstairs for Barry's mother-in-law who will move in within the next few years.
Herkimer! I've been there and have a tube of sparkly Herkimer diamonds!
Looks like a big project. I was just mentioning to my kids all the family houses that my dad helped build. A couple building projects included my grandson writing his name on one of the roof joists. He has grown up, but is still very proud when we go past those houses and he can point out that his name is up in the roof!
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My sister-in-law loves going there. She goes there to prospect and has a large collection of diamonds. I'm not sure what the cost is to prospect, but she'll go there for the day, be given an area to search in and is supplied with a hand pick and short shovel. She wants to include some of the Herkimer Diamonds in the fireplace when they build it.
Being part of a building project and having it stand the test of time gives one a sense of pride.
That's quite a massive amount of work based on some niche design.
Since we are both retired, working alongside my brother doesn't feel like work!
This takes me back to my house framing days. That’s going to be a beautiful home!!
Thanks splatts. When it's all said and done the home should be fabulous.
You have worn many hats in your life. Knowing how to do things in general is a money saver. When I hear the prices that people pay to have work done, I'm lost for words.
Neighbor sold his house and after the biyer had it inspected a roofing company came over to inspect the roof… $20k for a new roof. Of course the roofer is gonna say he needs a new one. 😂🤣😂
Painters are charging a butt load of $$ too. Part of me doesn’t blame them. They have mouths to feed to and a business to run. Prices are out of control!! But people are willing to pay it so….
My brother just got a price for a metal roof that came in at $42,000
We did the metal roof on his garage, and we'll be installing the roof on his house for that price.
He's priced out the materials and got a quote for $17,500. We think we can have the roof laid in 7/8 days. I guess we'll find out.
With the demand that there is for skilled tradesmen, why would any go to college unless they have a real passion for something. If you are good with your hands, learning a trade seems like a no brainer.
Over half price cheaper to do it yourself… as long as you got the time and knowledge, that’s a score!!
Mike Rowe has been preaching about the trades lacking for decades. It was always, COLLEGE COLLEGE COLLEGE!! You won’t amount to anything without going to college. I remember having that forced down my throat growing up. I’m glad I didn’t listen. Lol
Thanks much.
This is a wonderful work, the design of the house is beautiful, we look forward to the next part. Thanks for sharing in our community.
Thanks for all of your support.
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