It's been really hot, and the work's been a little heavy. Of course, it never feels as heavy with my strong team: Tom and Pop. Soon our team grows when my parents arrive on Tuesday evening! Very excited about this development...we had a busy week getting ready.
After church last Sunday, the heat was already thick, especially humid with the heavy rain from the day before. The floor being set up well enough, Tom and I hopped up on the ladders and hung the eight floor joists that were in the hole as part of the scaffolding for the wall pour. Pop showed up and gave us a hand.
On Monday after work, Tom mixed cement and I corefilled the block around our cellar stairs. The buckets were heavy, and working off a ladder was sometimes awkward. But Pop arrived and gave me a hand with the buckets. He also had stopped by during the day and put up some additional support to keep the joists from sagging.
On Tuesday we didn't work as hard because we celebrating our anniversary. We "played house" and double-checked where we will hang the windows on the main floor. It was easy to hang a sheet of cardboard on the wall and adjust it here or there.
Wednesday we started up hanging the joists again. We got another 14 hung, which took a little more finesse, as we were dropping them in from above the hole. Pop built a little rack for the person in the hole to "catch" the end dropping in. The supports went up, and it was nice and shady in the evening.
Thursday after work I busted a move to (1) measure the length for each cellar step, (2) paint a quick coat of primer along the block wherever the wood would touch the block, (3) measure and cut boards for each step, and lastly (4) paint a quick coat of primer on the ends of each board where it would touch the block. Thomas was installing the stairs on a special bracket that is screwed to the concrete. Unfortunately, he was having a hard go of the hammer drilling - broken screws and drill bits. It meant that after firehall training I was able to paint the rest of the area under/behind the boards. It will be easy to paint the rest after the stairs go in.
Friday, after several more broken bits and harsh words, Tom got the stairs in. He was home waiting for a service call for our satelite internet that is down (which never happened and is getting really frustrating), so he worked some more on the stairs and found WD-40 goes a long way in helping those screws move into place. Pop was on hand with the tractor to fill the ramp in - which means we now can walk into the house without climbing up and down ladders. Hurray!
The steps are easy to maneuver with tools and lumber and everything else.
Work shifted gears for a day and a half, as Tom and I made a really brief supply run to Denver. It is always embarrasing for me to admit that we drove past so many friends without stopping, but we are hoping to get back to Denver in a couple weeks for a more social call. We arrived in Denver about 7:30 pm and headed to Mr. Sushi for a fabulous anniversary dinner. We waited a long time for a table, but it was worth it. After a good night's rest, we set off at 8:30 am and made it to 6 stores before leaving around 3:00 pm. Our highlights were flooring and window purchases at the Habitat for Humanity ReStores - deep discounts on top of already low prices were exactly what we came for! We had a few more stops along the way home and rolled up to the house around 11 pm - had to go slow with the windows and weight in the back. At 10 pm when we switched drivers, the temperature was 94 degrees. Mercy!
Sunday we waited to go to church until 7 pm at Philmont, so we got an early start framing the center wall in the basement. Pop came over and helped for a while. Andres gave a hand briefly. Now we are ready for our new recruits to help with putting in the floor and other projects.
The joists offer great morning and evening shade.
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