As the basement slab was completed and the exterior backfilled with Aero Aggregate and sand, the crew worked to place anchor bolts in the top of each pier for placement of the structural steel which supports the upper floors of the house. Each bolt was coated in an epoxy to protect it from the corrosive lime that will come with the hemp-lime insulation. The first steel beams to be installed were the ground level floor supports followed by the fabrication of steel shear walls to make the house wind resistant. Once these initial steel beams were installed, some were packed out while others were painted with epoxy, and the crew began work on the sill plates.
Although the infilled CMU walls in the basement are mechanically tied to the piers, they do nothing for carrying the weight of the house — that is the job of the continuous sill plate assembly. At the Cape Cod Hemp House, the sill plate assemblies are an extra heavy duty assembly of two to three 4x10 pressure-treated beams spanning between piers. These have a specified 1” separation between the bottom of the sills and top of CMU walls to ensure the CMUs do not carry a load. Sill assemblies on the house’s exterior perimeter run between the piers, but at specified locations there are also steel columns tied into the concrete piers. These are intentional load paths which hold up the home’s second floor. Following completion of the sills, the crew laid floor joists and plywood subflooring on the ground level to complete the first-floor deck. Next stop is general framing, which should be a breeze!
