Big Beams

With a few days off in a row, lots of work can get done.  There was a bit of a delay (again) caused by suppliers---I wanted the sill (the pressure treated lumber the house sits on) to be splice free.  I made a special trip to buy a 3x6x 20'; got home and noticed it was only 16' long.  How do you not notice 4' of board missing??  Then, what was really frustrating, the metal column caps (that's the piece where the beams intersect) were all custom special order.  The supplier called saying they were in; I made the hour and a half drive to Escondido, only to find out my order WASN'T in, they were looking at a different order.....

Finally with my last day off I had all the parts and a whole day to work.  It was a bit scary getting the big beams from here to there but it all worked...It was really enjoyable to be working with big lumber on land I own on a beautiful day---until my sports-freak neighbor came up and really scolded me for missing Patrick's soccer game.

It may look like I have beams going every which way.  I do. Since I really wanted the deck to wrap around two sides, and the new fire restrictive codes don't allow for stacking cantilevers, this was the solution.  There are still a few more big beams to put in, then the rough in plumbing; then I'll be ready for the next inspection.