Holy smokes it's been a while! Yikes! Fire season has proven to be way busier than I anticipated, but now that it's winding down I'm starting to remember what a weekend feels like and now it's time to get to work!

So whats new, well the wood was delivered (minus the trusses so far) and I've got the girders built and now the floor joists are nearly done!
Great advice on building those girders in place, that saved us a TON of headache, so thanks.

I'm starting to get an idea as to just how well I'm going to have to brace this sucker until I can go back in a year or two and add in either a continuous footing or a PWF. The floor joists are nearly done (about twice as many as in this picture below) and if I grab and REALLY shake I can get some wobble forwards and backwards, add in walls and a roof and some wind and there will definitely be some big forces pushing on these little posts.

Granted, there is 0 bracing I've done so far so I shouldn't be too suprised.
Based on what I was reading I was thinking doing an 'X' style brace with 2x4s lagged in (one on  each side of each post) on the 14' side, and possibly some pt 4x4 lagged in doing a 'Y' style bracing each direction on the long side. My shortest post is 18'' so i don't have a ton of real estate to nail to but I feel that this should add some pretty reasonable rigidity at least for the time being. For the 'X' bracing am I just bracing the posts to each other? Or am I bracing low on a post to the girder or floor?

What do you guys think? Appearance is second to strength and cost at this current time, but next year I'll have some more funds available to add in something a bit more beefy like was suggested a ways back...

Anyway, heres a (nearly) up to date picture, I'm two joists away from having the platform done before I can start putting in some subfloor to dance on!

you can also omit the gable trusses entirely and just balloon frame the gable ceiling plane. fireblock that at the intersection of planes, that was the downside of balloon framing, it is easy to leave flue channels in the walls, compartmentalize that. I think I remember ak described lofting one out on the floor in a thread recently.

Yep love my "life-size blueprints"... ....makes it a breeze to go back and double- or triple-check everything....came to that realization after seeing a whole crew standing around waiting to frame great room gables...while two guys with construction calculators in their hands yelled at each other....lol

in aks pic, the overhang lookouts are cantilevered from the first inboard common truss out over the top of the dropped gable truss with blocking installed between lookouts on top of the truss top chord. the flying rafter would be next. I normally brace the gable plumb and straight, install the lookouts long, then snap a line and cut them in the air. you can also install the top and bottom lookouts, pull a string and measure for each one.

as you install the lookouts have a 10-12' straight 2x4 that you can lay on top of the lookout and back across several common trusses. you are checking that the lookout is crossing the custom gable truss at the correct elevation to sit in plane with the main body of the roof. the lookout fly end should neither rise above nor drop below the plane of the roof. this can require slight shimming or trimming of the lookout as it crosses the dropped gable truss. small errors between the common and gable trusses either at plant or during installation magnify here... which also happens to be one of those places the eye comes to rest on. its not a fun place to work but is worth taking time on.

you can also omit the gable trusses entirely and just balloon frame the gable wall up to lookout height, tall studs though. in that case you would nail a 2x4 ledger across the inside face of the full height studwall that provides a nailer for the inside ceiling plane. fireblock that at the intersection of planes, that was the downside of balloon framing, it is easy to leave flue channels in the walls, compartmentalize that. I think I remember ak described lofting one out on the floor in a thread recently.

look at your truss print under "reactions", the porch gravity load at joints 2 and 8 is 321 lbs AT DESIGN LOAD. the walls support 1238 lbs at each truss at 10 and 14. my gut says that is safe as long as you support it before winter. the truss tech can run the scenario on it easily. worst case you install the porch roof support beam under the trusses and install angled props to grade outboard of the porch framing.

ak got it on the dropped gable end truss. your bottom chord should mimic the cathedral ceiling, then the studs run from floor plane unbroken up to the sloped ceiling where there is again a plane of lateral support.

Also how about going back to your comment concerning the gable ends

"I'd have them make the gable trusses with the top chord dropped 3.5" for overhang lookouts. Balloon frame up to the underside of the scissors on the gable ends to avoid a hinge in the gable walls. At 145lbs and no taller than they are, they can go either way on install but a truck would sure make for a more fun day."

I don't understand that..

This is the dealio he's talking about....2x4 lookouts on edge cantilevered over the gable truss...."balloon frame" in this context means run studs from floor to truss without another plate breaking the continuity.....any such "hinge" point makes the wall flex when the wind blows....not a pretty sight on a dark and stormy night....