The framers arrived yesterday morning and by the end of the day most of the walls were standing. (See picture to the right.) The panels come with the exterior sheathing in place. You can see a mix on the sheathing where some of it is an insulation board, but OSB sheathing has been substituted at the corners as diaphragm framing. Often diagonal steel straps are installed at corners in order to avoid breaking the insulation barrier, but in this case there were windows too close to the corners for the strap bracing to work.
We are constantly trying to improve the framing on these structures to be more efficient, both in the use of lumber and in insulation barriers. Thus the change to insulated sheathing from 100% OSB sheathing used on previous Garden Court projects, the use of laddered T- wall corner connections at interior walls and the use of California Corners.
These efficiencies are important to us during construction as they reduce material and labor costs. Since these projects are HUD funded, the budgets are limited. For the owner, Garden Court, these efficiencies will result in savings on utilities over the life of the project.
