First floor walls are up and the engineered joists have been delivered and will be installed in the next couple of days. The engineered joist and beams are not only stronger than typical wood but they are pre-cut at the factory to reduce jobsite waste.



While it looks like the buildings are going up quickly, which they are, the tricky details like the stairs have yet to be installed. It seems like whenever framing gets going people expect the buildings to be done soon but this is still the beginning.

Post and beam construction has been used for nearly a century in Los Angeles to create open floor plans. Mid-Century masters Eichler and Cliff May used Redwood and Douglas Fir. However, the open spans and cantilevers combined with three story heights at Buzz Ct. create forces in excess of 50,000 lbs. So a couple tons of steel are required in each home to survive large earthquakes unharmed.

If breaking ground is the "Houston we have lift off" moment, and project completion is the lunar landing, then pouring concrete is the stage in between when the booster rockets disengage from the space shuttle: you realize that if everything isn't right now then it probably never will be.

Form-work, string lines, rebar, hold-downs: Starting to look like a construction site not just a hole in the ground.

Hardy discussing the excavation with the subcontractor on lot 1...


And Zoe inspecting the work on lot 2+3.