Didn’t post yesterday, because I dumped half a glass of water on my laptop, and I had to let it dry. And Marsh forgot her spare laptop, which we found tonight in the storage compartment under the camper bed. Oh well.
Photo highlight from yesterday: a Tek-Post (or whatever it’s called).
Our cantilevered stairs, which were previously supported by a pair of matchsticks nailed half-heartedly into vinyl, have been supported these weeks instead by a jackpost on a jack. When Jason heard in the morning that the Tek-Post guys were on their way, we had to quickly move it to one side (since it was sited where the permanent post would be) and add a second jackpost on the other corner. The guys arrived with their nifty machine and got to work:
The post is about seven feet long, the helical blade on the foot both drills and, ultimately, supports the load, and the green nylon sleeve prevents frost/ice from getting any grip on the post and driving it up in the winter:
Halfway in:
Complete. The footer is for a 6×6, and has an adjustable nut:
I also wanted to show you the concrete fill for the chimney flue. The backing board in the basement to hold the cement in:
The outside after removing the outer mold (which was just a cinder block propped on a board) — and before:
But today, with rain, the crew moved right inside, and started on the load-bearing beams for the upstairs cathedral ceiling. They cut down the remaining rafters to give themselves operating room, and then pulled each beam up through a window into the second floor.
With scaffolding set up, the first 2×14 went up against the ridgepost:
By soon after lunch all three beams were ganged up on the peak, and all that was left was to replace the temporary braces with real studs, and nail and screw the three plates together. They don’t quite meet on the bottom — thus the visible channel where the center beam sits a little higher — but that will be filled with a ripped strip of wood for appearance.
At midday I peeled away to go pick up windows from an Uncle Henry’s classified seller. These two triple windows comprise a pair of casements that open out (with screens) and a center stationary pane. They’ll provide roughly half (12 linear feet out of 24) the light and view suggested by the openings left by the previous owner. But we think it will still be plenty, and definitely convey the feeling of a “sun porch.” Plus, they are very high-quality windows, with excellent thermal profile. And brand new, still in their packaging.
With Jason driving hard, and me acting as “ground man” delivering tools and cut lumber up to the scaffold, we then also got the pair of 2×10’s up on the intermediate part of the roof slope:
Quote of the day:
At around noon Jason had to leave to attend to other business, and I had not yet left to get the aforementioned windows, so it was Reid (with an injured hand), Kyle, and myself, trying to proceed under directions rattled off by Jason as he left.
Reid said, “A gimp, a novice, and a homeowner. What a team.”
We did OK.