The Dance Floor

The sills are finished. Next, John and our neighbor Fred set a heavy "MicroLam beam", (engineered lumber), which will support the floor. This is not a one-person job. Fred's muscle and willingness to help is appreciated. His loaned generator has really helped too.

Here's the MicroLam in place:



And the floor joists:

A few days later, it's the last day of a long Thanksgiving weekend. Many are traveling back home or shuffling through crowded holiday craft fairs looking for that perfect gift. Up at 105, we're about to embark on one of the funnest steps in house building: sheathing the deck.

Eileen cheerfully holds the chalk line to align the first piece of plywood:


Mr. Bean observes Papa Bean hammering a nail:

Now he must try it himself (with Mom's assistance):

Rachel prepares to spread glue on the joists:

And she's got it down:

John marks the plywood:

Then we pound the tongue and groove plywood into place:

Whoa! Rachel traded in the glue gun for the bigger nail gun:

And she's off. She had the entire deck nailed down by day's end:

John's 23 year old nail gun broke about 2 dozen nails short of finishing. Rachel's willing to finish nailing the old fashioned way:

Krzy and Rachel pound the last few nails.

And there are still plenty more left:

The deck is done. Time to put on our dancing shoes! It's really beginning to feel like a house. We spend a while wandering through the rooms before taking our weary selves home. It was a productive and enjoyable family workday.