Working together, we made progress. My designer re-engineered parts of the house that hadn’t been built correctly. I raced around Anchorage borrowing generators and buying demo blades and nails. And of course, Harry and his crew were hard at work … Read More

Good work is good in so many ways. It’s stronger, more resilient, looks better, and just feels better to be around. Beyond that, good work reflects self-respect on the part of the builder and consideration for the well-being and safety … Read More

To start fixing my home I hired HCL Construction, headed up by owner Harry Lindsey Jr. Harry had learned to frame under some of the top contractors in Anchorage, and had just decided to strike out on his own. There … Read More

I had started the framing phase full of excitement. It was fun watching the walls go up and see the abstract shapes on the blueprints come alive into real things. I was happy to hire a former classmate, and thought … Read More

If you’re thinking “how could this get worse?” you might want to sit down. First, the situation with my framing was not a “you get what you pay for” deal. The contractor I hired was on the expensive side. But … Read More

I could post for months about problems with my framing, but I only want to share one more for now because finding it represented a big turning point in the project. The roof of my home is supported by glulam … Read More

Sadly, my home had been framed so poorly that the engineer’s written report said it could fail during a wind storm or earthquake. Why? Oh boy, let me tell you. In the center of the house, a column designed to … Read More

Keeping track of the problems with my framing was becoming an overwhelming task, so I was intrigued when my buddy Cale Green at Alaska Remote Imaging offered to create a Matterport scan of the project. To create a scan, a … Read More

One of the most disappointing things about my framing was the installation of the wall sheathing. Structural wall sheathing is the outermost “skin” of the framing, and is typically made of plywood or OSB. Sheathing locks together different parts of … Read More

During March and April the framing job on my home was reviewed by five general contractors and experienced professional framers, an independent licensed framing inspector, a municipal inspector, a licensed engineer, and others. Everyone caught different mistakes, but the picture … Read More