With sprinkles in the weather forecast for Monday and rain on Tuesday, we needed to complete welding the final nine posts in place.  We had welded five of the fourteen posts on Thursday.

Welding the Posts

Tony Gutierrez and ‘Little Pete’ arrived just after 8:00 am this morning at our project site.  It was foggy and a bit cool. 

Bryan had the site prepared and the remaining posts laid out.  We were able to start quickly and soon completed the welding on post 33, at the top of the stairs.  This was a complex post as it needed base plates put in and grinding so we could align the bottom of the post correctly.

After post 33, we put post 28 in place, which is on the corner.  This one was a bit tougher and went ok.  Then, we struggled with post 27, an intermediate post.  Finally, it lined up on the third attempt.  We all wanted it perfect.

Back to the top of the staris and we put in post 32, which lined up nicely with post 28.  However, the next intermediate post, post 29, required cutting into the hollow core so we could weld it on all sides.  Posts 29 and 30 were a snap.

Posts in protective wrapping from Paramount Modular Cable Railing Systems

Little Pete welding a shim in place for post 28.

Tony Gutierrez holding post 28 in place while Little Pete welds it.

Tony holds post 27 as Little Pete tacks it in place. We got this one right on the third try.

 Reed and Cole Drop Off a Router

We need to put some temporary railings on the posts so Reed Kingston came by with one of his boys, Cole, and dropped off a router.  They did a quick tour of the site and even tested the stairs.

Reed pointing out some key elements in the plans for his son, Cole.

Cole and Reed posing behind the plan table.

We’re Done

Then, we moved to the front of the house, to weld posts 16 and 19 into place.  These are the first posts our visitors will see when they enter the house.   Post 16 was perfect.  Post 19 was a bit tough as the cap plate was rotated by 90 degrees.  Tony assessed the situation and explained how we could fix it easily.  Fifteen minutes later, it was in place.

We finished by tacking covers over five openings in the steel where concrete could possible flow when we continue pouring.

Then, we packed up and were done.  Bryan closed and locked the gate just before 2:30 pm.

Our posts are in!

Looking up from the bottom of the atrium. It was a beautiful, blue-sky California day.

Our posts are in and looking great!

Posts 33 (left) and 32 (right), showing the bracings, etc. that will buried in concrete shortly.

Completed posts. Very nice.

Posts 16 (left) and 19 (right), which are the first two seen when coming in the front door. Note the clean face of the posts (no holes).

We welded 5 of the 15 posts in place today.  For a number of reasons, it took much longer than we expected.  We will need another day to weld the remaining 10 posts in place. 

Paramount Modular Cable Railing Systems did a fantastic job fabricating the posts for us.  The posts stainess steel welded to cylinders at the bottom, which will be embedded in the concrete.  The top of each post has a stainless steel bracket that will be recessed in the wooden top rail (Maple wood, from Canada).

Once these posts are welded into place, we will be able to pour more concrete so the posts will be embedded in concrete.

Establishing the Finished Floor Elevation

We had Jorge Ramirez from Bill Brown Construction come to our site this morning so we could ensure the finished floor elevation that he established earlier was consistent with our finished floor elevation for the posts.  The posts were designed and fabricated so the stainless steel shows above the concrete and the round carbon steel is embedded in the concrete (which is welded to the I-beams). 

We wanted to start at 8:00 am but both Jorge and the Larson Steel team were late in arriving.  This threw Bryan off his planned schedule, which included other items.

Jorge brought a laser level with him and, after getting new batteries at the local 7-11 store, we shot the elevation of the garage/kitchen door, which Jorge explained was the finished floor elevation.  This was within 1/16 inch of the elevation of the glass in the north side of Bridge Hall. It appears that the south end of the Bridge Hall is a quarter inch lower than the other three points.

We shot the elevations around the perimeter of the atrium and noted the distance to the finished floor.  We need to establish the elevations for the bottom of the posts so we can weld the posts to the steel I-beams. 

 Establishing the Welding Plan

Hector Guerra, who designed our bridges, arrived with Tony Gutierrez and ‘Little Hector’.  Tony will align the posts and Little Hector, who has been to our site several times, will do the welding.  We were fortunate to have Tony assigned to our project today.  He had extensive experience in making fences and other items from steel where having straight lines and vertically plumb posts are critical. 

Tony Gutierrez, left, and Hector Guerra, right.

Hector and Tony reviewed the site and explained the strategy will be to establish a string line for height and straightness.  Then, the posts can be welded into place so they will be straight, not skewed, vertically plumb, and at the correct elevation. 

The first posts to be welded into place will be the end posts.  Then, the intermediate posts will be welded.  We started with the posts on the north side of the atrium.

Welding Five Posts

Tony and Little Hector completed welding the first five posts in place by just after 3:00 pm.  It was satisfying to see both Tony and Hector lean on the posts and see little, if any, sway.  When the wooden 2×2 top rail is in place the railing system will be solid.  Rock solid.

After completing the first five posts, we moved to the corner post at the top of the stairs.  This is a complex post as it is offset and has very fine tolerances so the cable will be in the correct location for going down the stairs. We had some grinding to do and then we ran out of time.

Laying out the posts, still in their protective foam wrapping.

Welding the supports for the temporary string line in place.

Temporary stringline and first post in place.

Post 25 in place. Note the bracket that will be embedded in the wooded top rail.

Post 10 solidly in place. Note the 3/4 inch space between the bridge and the post, which is where the madrone hardwood will go.

Post 9. This is an 'intermediate post' and used to ensure the cables are not stretched to allow a 4 inch sphere to pass between them.

Post 8, another intermediate post.

Post 7, which is the corner post by the Bridge Hall. This is the bridge with the glass decking that leads to the Master Suite.

The stainless steel posts for our railing system are being milled from stainless steel in Carson City, NV.  Steve Kreck from Paramount Modular Cable Railing Systems sent the following photo to show the progress.

The 14 posts that will be welded to the steel I-beams are being milled first so we can have those welded into place and pour the remaining concrete over the hollow core concrete panels.

Stainless steel posts being milled in Carson City, NV. Note the holes for the Ultra-tec Invisiware receivers. Photo credit - Steve Kreck.