Today I built a 30' long wall for the West end. It's tall and rectangular now but later it will be trimmed along rafters to reveal a typical gable peak. I also built two 12' long sections of 6' high wall to support that tall wall.
In that first pic you can see the half-beam now in place leaving a stair well. That second pic gives a sense of scale. Good thing I don't have acrophobia, eh?
Today was a repeat performance of yesterday mirrored onto the East end.
You might be wondering why some decking appears to be missing on the right side of this view. That's actually an intentional feature of this building. I'll have more to say/show about that later.
Today I connected the 6' high outside walls for the North and South.
With the outside walls of the second level all framed, I started on the knee walls. They sit inside the 6' high walls to support rafters so they are 8' high.
These walls are going up swiftly. Good weather helps a lot. The decking also makes a great work surface. The upstairs is an awesome shop area!
The knee walls were finished today. So I put the inside rafters against the East end. The eventual shape of the building is beginning to reveal itself.
In this view you can start to see how the load bearing walls all work. I took care when laying everything out between the two levels. Beams are centered over first level wall studs. Second level wall studs are centered over those. Rafters will be centered over them as well. While these load bearing walls all have double plates, they don't have to transfer any weight between studs. I tend to get fussy about details like that. (shrug)
Both gabled end walls were girted today. Rafters were also added to the West end wall. Now the peak ends can be connected with a ridge board and rafters.
I've really been lucky with the weather. No rain (knock wood) since decking the upstairs floor. Part of the zen of this project for me has been a moderate pace. That enhances rather than quells the enjoyment factor. At this point, however, getting the roof on soon is a priority to keep that plywood dry. It may be prudent to change from marathon to sprint strategy. Food for thought anyway.