"Nail it...with a nail"

"All this advice here...it's free!" - the sage words of Ed, my framing, heck, my project savior.

Ah, much has transpired my friends since I last posted. The exterior framing, well hell it's done son. I have a shingled roof too! This is no small accomplishment. The weather over the last four weeks has been barely tolerable for outside, exposed work at times. And the nailing continued unabated. My 8:30am hot coffee was frozen solid by 10am. I kicked a 2x4 so hard, I lost a toe nail but couldn't feel it - numb at the time. My hands, my fingers split on the tips and sides from the cold and dry air. One framing expert, a learned carpenter, and a tuck point mason re-built a 2,000 sq.ft. home in three weeks...and no one lost an eye.
The past week brought a delightful warming trend and I was able to re-lay many of the window openings (interior) which were in dreadfully poor condition. How this building remained standing to this point, I don't know. When it warms again, I will replace the header lentils and then I can place the house load back onto the front wall and remove the temp supports. Things can then really take their final shape with interior partition walls roughed in.
In the mean time, the plumbers are roughing in the waste/vent and supply lines. They hadn't showed up a few days ago, contrary to plan, so I called. They, admittedly, got drunk the night before and were hanging so they weren't going to make it that day. oof. Along these lines, the roofer continues to want to get paid though the job is not complete - the glue-down, flat material is curled up in this cold weather and will only set flat when warm. Well, it's winter, it's cold, and that ain't done. We have reached a compromise but I must say I continue to find disappointment in the contractor ranks.
With a roof and house wrap on the to-be sided exterior walls, neighbors and dog park people alike ask me when the house will be complete. A miricle would be April and May is within the means though very much a mediocre bet.
I'll leave you with one last quote from Ed. "The house is telling us how it wants to go back together", this was said as the first floor joist system was floated and shimed into place. The previous framing contractor had forced a different plan and nothing was working out. Now, when we took efforts to rebuilt - not new build - the house, everything aligned. The masonry pockets for the joists, the door openings, the dry-laid stone foundation - they all fit perfectly.
My heartfelt thanks to Ed and Devin, though paid for their work, I could never have completed this project without their hard work and tolerance of poor weather and miserable conditions.