Wood!!

The termite guy came out to see what we had done, and thought everything looked real nice. Then he told us that we just needed to dig a small ditch around the entire room for the chemicals to soak in. I almost cried. I thought the digging was done, but NO! The digging was not done! With our sore backs and bodies, we went back after it. It really didn’t take all that long, and so later that day, Benchmark Pest Control (who I highly recommend) came in and soaked our room with chemicals which have surely been found to cause all sorts of problems in people, as well as animals. Who cares? I’m a landowner now. Who has time to think about the earth???????????

Next up, prepare for Concrete. we had decided that we could have our footers dug and rebar put in place, and a frame for the front of the building all set to go by 3:30 that afternoon, which was as late as the concrete guy would agree to show up. Oh, the drama begins. One thing after the next, the levels are wrong, the footers are too wide, the inspector can’t get here. So we are freaking out like a bunch of imbeciles, and the concrete guy gives me the “‘fore I load up this truck, I wanna make sure we are all on the same page” call, and I admit, we are just totally frazzled. Somehow when it is a hunderd degrees outside and you start at 6 AM, well, hells bells. You just can’t always get it together. He was relieved, he himself being a middle aged man who didn’t fancy loading his truck up in the heat of the day and would also be glad to come back in the A.M., he wasn’t even mad. I figured he’d be irritated. No, it just made beer thirty oh so much closer.

The next day, with a fresh perspective, we were able to get all set up for the concrete, and get that concrete poured. We had ordered EXACTLY the right amount. I don’t wanna brag, but it there was none to waste. I supervised, while the concrete driver told me sordid stories about when he used to be a musician. Oh dear. And of course, it ends with the hard sell on a nice pair of amps he has….!

 

 

 

 

 

Obviously once the concrete is poured, the only thing to do is watch it dry.

The next day was all about the girder. Yes, the girder. For those of you who aren’t, ahem, as versed as I in the ways of the construction industry, the girder is some insanely large stick of wood that you run down the center of a wooden floor. It was about 5 giant pieces of wood staggered and nailed together. And of course, to get the whole thing level, yes, we shimmed. Shimmity shim. That would be the name of our floor instillation business: Shim’s.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then the ye olde vapor barrier goes down….

Then the real madness began. 86 boards going across this beautiful soon to be floor. Talk about redundant. This is when you really need to bulk up on your ritalin, because if you really stopped to think about this project, you would just leave town. That is precisely the reason why Vegas is open 24 hours a day. Better than your best friend, who never answers their phone on a week like this.

 

 

 

 

We had to block the sidewalk, but I think everyone was so glad they didn’t have to do this project themselves, that they politely took the road around our little disaster and averted their eyes.

 

 

 

So, how do you say this? We cut the waste off the board in three, and that served as the boards that blocked in the footers. Footers? Is that the long board going across? Hmmm, or is that a header? Or a joist? Or a rafter? Or is it time to quit yet? And you are?

 

 

 

 

 

And when we got done, we realized we forgot to stain the boards first, so we pulled it all up and threw it away.

Just kidding! It was an unbelievable improvement. The only thing is it lowered the ceiling. We had a nice tall  ceiling, and then it wasn’t so tall. The acoustics got really loud. The nail gun hurt my ears. I spaced out more, I walked around like I was doing something, although I knew my primary job was to make sure we didn’t cover the floor and leave a bunch of tools under there. Leave that to the pro tool gatherer.

 

The dirt was feeling further and further away. All I could think about was the big broom I was going to buy. Wow!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Well, somewhere between almost done and done, we went back to North Carolina for a week and got the kids and pretended like none of this was happening. Then the hardest push was to get going again when we got home, but we pushed ourselves (rather, I pushed Zac) out the front door and down to the shop, where we got the plywood all down, and the detail work done (like going under the bathroom’s pre-exsisting walls):

 

 

 

 

Notice the trap doors.

So first things first. Big empty room! Sounds like it is time to bring the roller skates over.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We are gonna have to start charging admission!

So that concludes the floor. The floor project as we know it, which means, attention off the ground, time to look up. Look up to the ceiling, the walls, the windows! Onward HO!