Little House post bracing question

[Pa_Kettle]

Well we just got back from another weekend of working on the 14x24.  The joists are in and most (see P.S. below) of the sheathing is nailed down.  As we neared the time to install the diagonal bracing from the posts to the joists, it dawned on us that the posts are not inline with the joists.

So, the plans mention running bracing from the post bottom to a joist.  Is this referring to the rim joist?  What I've done right now is run a PT 2x4 diagonal from the bottom of each corner post to inside of the rim joist and the bottom of the sheathing.  I cut the top of the brace to an "arrow head" so that one flat on the arrow lies flat against the inside of the rim joist and the other flat will lie flat against the bottom of the sheathing.  I just nailed through the brace and into the post for the bottom connection.

Is this the correct thing to do?  Should I run one of these on every post?


I'll have the new shots of our progress up soon.

Thanks,
PK

P.S. - We thought we could get by with 11 sheets of T&G (as the plans mention) for the floor, but it turns out our last row of sheathing needed to be 25" deep.  I'm thinking this is because the T&G is effectively 47 3/4" deep.  Did I do something wrong here?

P.P.S - I'm thinking of installing a Strong-Tie AC4 (http://www.strongtie.com/products/connectors/AC-LPC-LCE.html) on top of each post to tie it to the beam.  I've got little wood strips tying them together right now.  Any reason I should/shouldn't do this.

[John Raabe]

PK:

Your diagonal bracing sounds fine to me. On our cabin the posts didn't always line up with a joist either. I doubt they would for anyone. You could add a block between joists and then nail off to that but your arrowhead to the rim will work as well. This is an insurance program against the house rocking in an earthquake. Whenever and however you can triangulate the connection it will help with this bracing.

The connection between the top of the post and the beam is similar and can be beefed up somewhat with the post cap you link to.

Little surprises like the T&G sizes are part of the building process.   (Did you provide for the expansion in the joints?)

PS - After looking at the picture you posted: http://www.bellsouthpwp.net/n/i/nibblet/land/cabin/floor.html I think I would add 2x4 or 4x4 braces at the end on each beam (on the side closest to camera) between the post bottom and up to the bottom of the beam. This will brace the platform the other way (beam direction) and will work better than the post caps.

[Pa_Kettle]

PK:
Little surprises like the T&G sizes are part of the building process.   (Did you provide for the expansion in the joints?)

Lol, yes.  The T&G portion of the joints seemed to have their own built-in spacing.  The tongue would only go so far into the groove and left an 1/8-1/4" gap at the top surfaces.  The joints over the joists were the ones we had to space ourselves, and we did.

PS - After looking at the picture you posted: http://www.bellsouthpwp.net/n/i/nibblet/land/cabin/floor.html I think I would add 2x4 or 4x4 braces at the end on each beam (on the side closest to camera) between the post bottom and up to the bottom of the beam. This will brace the platform the other way (beam direction) and will work better than the post caps.

Yeah, I was thinking of this too.  I'm planning on starting a brace at the bottom of a post, two posts "in", and running a diagonal across the outermost post up to the beam.  I'll do this on twice on both ends (for a total of four diagonals) and the structure should really be stiff in the long direction.

PK

[John Raabe]

sounds good