Every time I let myself get a little behind on my blogging of the studio construction progress, I'm reminded of the old canned chili commercials: "How long has it been since you've had a big steaming bowl of Wolf Brand Chili?....Well, that's been too long." And so it has been too long indeed since my last post. There has been considerable progress on the building since the last update, though. We have gone from bare stud walls to actual plywood walls with the windows and doors cut out. And, today, Amy, Keith, and the boys, along with Mom and Dad were over here helping and we got all the trusses up.

Buster and Candy were here to help with putting the plywood up on the stud walls, and to stand up the interior walls. At the beginning of the planning process, April and I were slightly worried that our proofing room and bathroom would not be big enough. On the floor plan, they just looked small. At one point, I actually mocked up the proofing room in our den/studio with the white board panels that we lay down to shoot with the white backdrop. The space just seemed tiny. But, now that the walls are actually up, and especially with the 9' ceilings, the rooms look plenty big.

The decision to go with 9' ceilings was made pretty late in the game, but I'm glad we went with it now. Now, our ceiling in the studio space will be vaulted, but our backdrops will be mounted on the low sides of the vault. I just figured the extra foot of height would be appreciated later. It is quite a bit more work, since you can't reach a 9' ceiling unless you climb a ladder, but it sure makes the space seem bigger.

Yesterday and today, all of my family came over and helped put the trusses up. The trusses were scheduled to arrive yesterday, and the truss delivery guy called my phone at 6:30 a.m. to let me know that he was on his way! I got up, put some clothes on, and he was in the driveway at 6:40. So, April and I just stayed up and got a lot of work done. We had four photo shoots, I got the yard mowed, and my cousin Evan showed up and we put the trusses up onto the top of the walls upside-down. That evening is when my whole family showed up and we flipped the trusses over and nailed them in place to make the roof. We finished up this evening at around 6:00, and headed over to Mom and Dad's to have a 4th of July dinner.

And so it stands. We can now see the outline of the building standing against the sky. We can now tell just how big it's going to look from the road, and I have to admit, it looks pretty good. I know there is a ton of work yet to do, but I feel that a lot of progress has been made in the last few days. The goal now is to get the roof finished and the walls totally detailed out before camp starts the week after next. We shall see....


First, Evan and I hung the trusses upside-down on the tops of the walls.


After that, the trusses could then be flipped over, slid into place, and nailed down. Each truss is braced to the previous truss, and the whole lot is braced to the ground.


Here is Keith, a.k.a. 'Cliffhanger'


Keith was getting on to me for 'posing', I'm just trying to keep my wife happy!


Here is the whole crew manhandling another truss.


These end trusses are always the hardest. They are heavier than all the other trusses, and they have to be perfectly plumb since all the other trusses will be connected to them.


These things can get away from you if you're not careful.


Amy had the most important job of all...watching Jack!


Can't you just see the potential? It's going to be great.