Installation of the Glulams
| Watching the installation of the glulams was downright scary. Bill Gray's crew accomplished this monumental task with sheer muscle strength, using minimal equipment on makeshift platforms.
Two conjoined glulams, which are multilayered pressure-formed beams, stretch across the 3rd floor structure from North to South. When tied together, they serve as a structural base for the gables and also as a support beam to attach interior walls to. Everywhere I looked I saw huge risks during the glulam installation process: a slip here, a misstep there – had even just one person not done their part exactly right or (even worse) just couldn't muster the lifting power required – catastrophe would have been the result. The primary gluelamb weighed in at well over 600 lbs. While watching this process all I could wonder was who had what insurance coverage. And I found myself constantly looking around for a way to retreat from my ladder vantage point if something awful suddenly happened. Smaller residential construction crews have their disadvantages. They don't have all the necessary equipment for high tech solutions.They don't have the sheer manpower needed to do a timely job. They make do with aging equipment including the vehicles that they drive. And a management layer to keep an eye on safety issues is virtually nonexistent. i.e., No one tells them that they have to clean up accumulating debris, no repair crews come in to assess and fix equipment, and OSHA is not on site to document risks. These small crews, however, are inventive. And I guess they represent mountain ways of doing things. In our case they certainly got the glulam job done with surprising speed despite causing Dr. Ellen's heart to r-a-c-e. |
 The northern peak on the 3rd floor (shown above) will house one end of two conjoined glulams. The series of images to follow document to entire (frightening) glulam installation process. |
 This center post will support the ends of two humongous glulams, as you will see. |
 Up comes glulam #1... |
 We're talking 600 lbs here. |
 Of course, the glulam is far bigger than the scrawny support post so Dr. Ellen is dubious at best – but she keeps clicking away. |
 Here is a closer view...they are first attaching a 2x4 to the bottom side of the first glulam so that when the two glulams meet they will have a way to join them together. |
 Meanwhile Bill Gray notches the northern peak where the glulam will rest. |
 See the notch? They are lifting the glulam up to it. One holds the ladder while another does the heavy lifting. Dr. Ellen's heart is also starting to do some heavy beating... |
 Both ends are now more or less in place, despite Dr. Ellen's worst fears. But wait! |
 See the expansion joint just visible above the center post? The glulam still has to be lifted up on top of the expansion jack, 2x4 and all. Heav ho! Bill yells... |
 This is an end view of the second glulam...note the six pressure-formed layers which they say is far stronger than a single beam. Structural glued laminated timber (glulam) offers designers a multitude of options for large, open spaces with a minimum number of columns. It is manufactured by bonding assemblies of high-strength, kiln-dried lumber, with waterproof adhesives. Special bonding techniques allow individual lumber pieces to be joined end-to-end to form long laminations, then face-bonded to form deep timbers. See The Engineered Wood Association information about glulam. |
 Dr. Ellen says this is doubtless the construction industry's version of a tripod. It's not a GITZO, though, by any stretch of the imagination. The amazing part is that this 'tripod' thingy is perched on some tall scaffolding! Arrrrrrrghh! |
 A wider view of the tripod thingy... |
 Dr. Ellen looks down on the ladder that she is standing on, only to read the OSHA-like message on its top. Notice that her feet are properly placed...! |
 Opps, back to work...the second glulam is being hoisted up to its position on the southern wall. They rest it against the log wall while the other end gets hoisted up... |
 ....NOW... |
 Suddenly everyone gets up on the scaffolding...can you see where it has to go? |
 You know this thing has to be H-E-A-V-Y as they are all gritting their teeth! |
 Brut strength works but WOW...surely there is an easier way?? |
 See his strained muscles??...he has to get the glulam up on top of that small metal expansion jack! |
 But he misses, and everyone holds their breath for a moment as the ladder itself strains under the sheer weight of the unsteady glulam...Dr. Ellen is thinking about calling 911 about now... |
 Imagine the peril here, on the 3rd floor of an unfinished log home with the garage level open below...a 600 lb glulam, a toddering scaffolding...the additional weight of three guys...Wheh! |
 A moment of breath-holding is probably therapeutic here, forced or not. Now its the other side's turn. |
 UP UP UP UP the glulam goes...note Roache's impressive one-armed hoist on the right.... |
 And it is set in place. |
 Here is a wider-angle view of that scene so as not to forget about all that teetering scaffolding underneath! |
 The tethering 2x4 is quickly nailed in place. Yaaaaaa! |
 Finally, the other end is lifted again, just enough to push the expansion jack in place. But look at how close those fingers are to an excruciating CRUNCH! |
 And look at that! As if the tipsy scaffolding weren't enough... Yeow! says Dr. Ellen as she descends her observation platform in a state of homeowner despair...a new term she has coined for homeowners everywhere. |
 They are still up there doing acrobatics but you-know-who has sought some sanity elsewhere. |
 And it is NOT on this danged ladder! |
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