Sun and Progress

Not that we can tell by looking out at the rain the last few days, but we had beautiful weather over last weekend.  Friday (the 20th)  the truck came with a bundle of framing lumber for the first floor of the garage.  Yay!  A promise of major progress.


Saturday, Hubby worked hard on his own (the princes had prior plans... Sports events, etc.), sorting and moving material around.  It was ready for the real work.  


Sunday that started. I have to say I was impressed and overwhelmed.  I thought they could frame the walls and tip them up like we did for the house.  But with the slab floor and working off the mud sill instead of the more perfectly level engineered floor joists, it was a lot more work...  And Hubby was nicely patient in explaining to me why they were framing so differently than I'd seen before, and answering all my questions.  He's learned that when I ask, I just want to learn... I'm not challenging his decision.                                                                                                                                        
This new-to-me method meant standing the studs up one at a time, measuring to a line stretched where the top of the wall will end up.  This gets the tops perfectly lined up, then the top plate is nailed across them all.  Phew!  Glad it wasn't me.  It is amazing to me Hubby's willing to do all that to do the best job.  I'd have felt overwhelmed and likely given up.  But he is all about plumb, level, and square... and whatever it takes to get there.  It's his way of being "lazy smart," so that the subsequent tasks are all much easier.  

Prince Inventive was in his element, too, handling the tools and the job with efficiency and finesse.  As a 12 - 14 year old he was a great junior framer on the house, and I guess the skill is like riding a bike.  Prince Go-for-It, only 8 - 10 when we built the house, doesn't have that kind of experience under his belt and was just learning.  


Prince Steadfast got out there as he could, but also had college homework to finish.                                                                                                                                                                                                                      














I caught Prince CuddleBunny in what is, apparently, becoming one of his traditional building poses... 

2006 and 2012

Then he found himself another job.  He helped wash my car and volunteered to scrub the rims.

Now we have our first wall, and she's a beauty.  Something that will make each of the other walls easier to build.  Something that will motivate us to get going on the rest, to see it all take shape and become useful.

Hubby also took advantage of the sunny weather and sealed the concrete floor.  He can envision the saw dust from future projects sweeping up swiftly and easily over the smooth and almost glossy surface.  The daydreaming of fun to come!