Some Details and Complications

First the complications. The roof of the garage is 1 foot lower than the roof of the rest of the house and so is the floor. That means that the roof line and floor of the addition are 1 foot higher than that of the garage. It makes putting in trusses, building walls and making roof lines look like they weren't cobbled together a bit difficult. I'll keep you posted.

Then the details. The base boards (there's probably a name for them that I don't know) are attached to the foundation with nuts and huge square--well, I think they are washers. Apparently they are to help the foundation flex during an earthquake. Then the cap for the I-beams is attached to the base board.

The central beam is put into slots in the foundation that were carefully molded when the cement was poured. Before the beam is put in place, it is capped with flashing. I'm not sure why, but it sure looks fancy!