They're FINALLY Up!!

I have had these massive 12X12 old pine beams on my back porch for months just waiting to be hung in the house. They are VERY heavy, and to be honest, everyone has been scared of them. My builder has been taking his own sweet time because he needed to figure out the best way to get them up. Well today was the day. The trim guys were mad because they didn't want to have any part of it. Everyone tried to convince me that people don't put these beams up in houses (which I know that they do). I don't know if they do that much where you live, but here, they're pretty common in bigger houses. I have books filled with pictures of big beams hung in houses. I almost let them talk me out of it and let them build a "fake" one instead, but I stuck to my guns. Besides, I already paid for them, and don't want them on my porch forever. The builder also insisted that they were too big, and would not look right. Again, very stubborn, I told him that I would take that chance. So the moment of truth arrived, and I was there to see it!
They had to get every person who was at the house to carry the beam inside. We had stucco guys, painters, trim guys, etc. I wasn't there for that, but would have loved to get a picture of it. Here they are starting to lift it:

Going up:

So the big one is up, and the second one is being supported by the lifts. They'll put a third one up tomorrow. I think they look GREAT! The best part was the builder admitted that he was wrong, and the size looks great! I love it when I'm right!!!LOL


And as a bonus, all the columns are now up, and they have put the first coat of stucco on them. I think they'll be ready for the color coat tomorrow! I'll update then.