Framed Floor

We are making some real progress now! After the bobcat expedition last week, we now have a BIG pile of dirt in our backyard. Little A had such a good time helping Daddy! Last Saturday, Big Moe came over and the real work finally got under way. Big A worked on putting beams along the existing house structure to get the tie- in correct and make sure it would attach properly. This pretty much took all day. Grueling work on his back up under the edge of the house trying to pound nails in the right location. He ended up doing a lot of pre-drilling because the old wood is so hard, the nails were bending. Grandma came to town and took Little A for the day which was a huge help to me. They had a great time (and so did I!). Sunday the guys worked a half day - we had to go to Little A's open house for school that afternoon, not to mention it is hotter than hell right now, so Big A was ready for a break. During the week Big Moe and Brandon came over a few evenings to keep the momentum going.

This weekend was Labor Day and Big A, Big Moe and Brandon worked most of the day on Saturday - it was rainy so they had to dodge the thunderstorms, but they got A LOT done (thanks to Brandon for sticking around Saturday afternoon!). It is finally starting to take shape. In fact, they didn't work on Sunday or Monday because they ran out of lumber. Big A did some minor work on Monday and now we are ready for the next phase which is putting sheeting over the floor joists. The codes require tons of strapping and bolting and nailing which has taken a lot of time in this early phase. Pretty soon we will have walls going up which is very exciting.

Life is still going fine in our cramped quarters. We struggle every day to stay organized and control the clutter. Little A is still sleeping well in her crib (poor girl!) and Little T napped through a great deal of pounding over the weekend, so I really can't complain. People keep asking me how long this project will take to complete. Right now, I just take things day by day and try to enjoy the process, and not think too hard about the end result. It will be done when it is done. It will probably take a lot longer than we think so to put a time limit on it at this point will only be frustrating. Big A is so lucky to have the skills to do something like this with his own two hands. We are also fortunate to have good help when he needs it. Big Moe has been very instrumental in getting started and he has provided lots of guidance in the initial layout.

Sheeting and walls to come next - Hurrah!!!!