We originally thought that the structural steel was only going to be at the back of the house, where we have a wall of windows. We thought that this was the only part of the house that required such support. Silly us! In fact, there is a ton (literally), or twelve, of steel that has been designed into our house.
Because the steel is so extensive, the steel manufacturer and the framing contractor agreed to frame in parallel, or rather in alternating series. They effectively take turns installing steel and wood framing. This has done two things for us: first, it has tightened up the framing schedule (currently we are about four months ahead of schedule, hopefully I didn't just jinx us), and second, the steel manufacturer does not need to use a crane to lift the steel beams into place. The fact that we do not need a crane is actually more important than it sounds because we no longer have any way for a crane to reach onto the property. Earlier, our neighbor very graciously allowed us to place the crane on the remains of his garage slab and lift the steel from there. He has started his construction process now so the garage slab no longer exists so we cannot do that anymore. We cannot bring the crane in from the front of our property because the electric wires that run across the front property line are too low. We cannot bring the crane in from the back of the property because, well, effectively the back of the property is like a cliff it is so steep. Therefore, it is very fortunate that the steel and wood can be put in in series because the steel manufacturer can use the main floor framing to support the manlifts (blue autobots) to lift the next level's steel.
Yesterday, the framing contractor placed a number of exterior walls. Today, the steel manufacturer has bolted and welded on some more steel cross beams to create some of the support structure for the second floor.
Just wait though because evidently there is a lot more steel to come which will support, yes you guessed it, our amazing sweeping staircase!!!!