Today we finished putting up the kitchen beam that will hold the wall that divides the kitchen and the bathroom. I had to cut the joist holder to fit under the ceiling insulation and trim the beam to rest on the concrete wall.
Kitchen Beam on Concrete Wall
The beam is hanging on the laminated main beam with a full joist hanger but that one had to be shimmed to line up with the rear wall. These are the type of joist hangers that fold behind the beam instead of outside of it. We are reusing screws that we saved from the demolition. I have them sorted into bags by thread size and length. They are mostly drywall screws. Very useful and no extra expense.
Simpson Strong Tie LUC26Z Concealed Flange Hanger
Kitchen Beam on Laminated Beam
The wires for the kitchen and utility rooms will extend along this beam and around the rear of the utility room instead of draping across the kitchen ceiling.
Beam to South Wall
The wall will be hung from the beam instead of the ceiling and the wall to the ceiling will also be supported by this beam.
Beam to North Wall
A platform will be installed over the rear of the bathroom and the closet to hold the ERV ventilation unit. We plan to have the rest of the bathroom ceiling be open to the cathedral ceiling with an interior window over the door to let natural daylight into the bathroom that has no outside window.
Future Platform between the family room and kitchen walls.
The pantry closet will hold a subpanel that will feed the kitchen, utility, and most of the north side of the house. UPDATE: The electrician can’t put a subpanel in the pantry as it needs 30 inches of access in front of it. So he will run the power from the garage instead.
The ventilation system will be located above the closet and the toilet area of the “triangle” bathroom.
Dibble Floorplan With Electrical Core
The electrical rough install and re-building the walls are major tasks we hope to complete in the spring/summer.