recycled homesteading : Cutting out the big doorways

Well, this weekend did not go quite as planned so we didn't get as much done as we would have liked it too. It has been really hot around here and Saturday was around 100 degrees. Working in the grain bins was too hot that day. The next day was a bit cooler so we were able to get the framing in for the second level and then cut out the large holes that will lead to the rest of the house.

The hole on the right will be the opening into the living room. The hole on the left will be another opening into the living room and also hold the stairwell leading upstairs. The I beams that make up the framing for the upstairs floor we were able to buy at an auction for 17 cents a foot. We were able to buy most of what we needed for both grain bins for a few hundred dollars. You can also see the beams over the doorways that Chris built. He had to cut strips of plywood and glue them together and screw them to make it fit the curve of the wall. We had to buy 6 sheets of plywood to do the headers for both grain bins and that cost $200. He then bolted it with lag bolts from the outside through the boards. We were not going to frame the floor for the upstairs yet but after talking about cutting away so much of the ground level support we thought it would play it safe and frame that first.