Framing begins

The crew started framing the garage first, maybe because that is normal practice, but also because they needed to stay out of the way of the the tubing guys. I was on-site early Monday morning and was able to see the beginning of the framing process. I suspect most of this process will be boring to anyone with experience in construction, but it's interesting to me. Here's the garage rear wall getting assembled:

Since I was there, I even had the chance to help lift and hold the garage walls while they were nailed into place...woohoo! Okay, not really a big deal but at least I can say I helped raise the first walls on our new house :).

Rear garage wall is up and braced:

Installing the first beam over a stall opening; note all of the diagonal bracing to keep the walls plumb:

And later on:

Another view, with some of the interior room framing layout in the foreground:

The tubing installation guys have been working too; here's several rolls of Uponor Wirsbo 1/2" Pex-AL-Pex tubing:

"Pex-AL-Pex" means that the tubing has three layers, a core of cross-linked polyethylene (PEX), then a layer of aluminim, then another layer of PEX. IIRC, this is the type of tubing specified and approved by Warmboard. It is tough stuff. Some type of PEX tubing be also used for our drinking water plumbing.

The tubing doesn't look like much different after it's been laid into the grooves; here's a sample view:

In the above picture, you can see some custom-routed grooves, including some that were X'd out as mistakes...grrrr. :) To the right, in a circle labelled "S", you can see one tube that dives down below the Warmboard into the crawlspace. Presumably at a later stage that tube will surface into a stud wall in a different location, and be hooked up to a manifold; for now though, they just dangle patiently:

The tubing guys are not 100% finished yet, but they've got most of the western side of the house done so the framers can work behind them. This is the rear wall of the master-bathroom area:

All for now...