Sub-Floor Finished

March 11, 2019
Timber Frame Cabin
This week was all about flooring. Structural flooring that is. The architectural, aesthetically pleasing portion of flooring is still a ways off. We started off the beginning of the week doing the joinery for the floor joists for the loft and finished the week putting the plywood sheathing on the ground floor. With the sub floor in place we’ll soon be ready for our house raising.

Sub Floor installed!

 Here’s this week’s timelapse:

Some of the joists need to be tapered at the end to provide strength and prevent cracking lengthwise

I cut kerf cut the tapered section and chiseled out the section to be removed 

Then I sanded down the taper to a smooth finish

Dad suggested installing the rigid foam floor insulation before the floor joists rather than installing the floor joists and then having to crawl underneath the building with sheets of of foam and plywood. Here we’re installing the a 2×4 lip that the foam and plywood will rest on until being attached the bottom of the floor joists. 

Laying down a sheet of 3/8″ plywood. The rigid foam panels will be sandwiched between this plywood and the bottom of the floor joists. The plywood will protect the foam from insects and rodents.

Laying out rigid foam panels.

Sealing the seams between the rigid foam panels

Laying out the rim joists. We’re checking to make sure the building is square here.

Installing the common joists

Installing blocking

Where each post will be located I installed extra blocking. This way the load the post is carrying can bear directly down to the grade beam and pier. 

We attached leftover scraps of the foam panels to the inside of the rim joists.

Using a chalk line to line up our first run of plywood sheathing

Applying construction adhesive to prevent squeaky floors.

Jean persuades the plywood into position. I’m using a couple of nails to maintain a small gap between the plywood sheets to compensate for potential expansion. 

Securing the sheets with screws. Lots and lots of screws.

Jean and Dad apply their combined mass to bowed piece of plywood.

And more screws

Tarping.