Thankfully, my husband knows just what to do with all this wood. On Friday, day two of working on the house together, Matt taught Randy and I how to build the bearing walls in the basement. The worst part of this was chipping ice off the foundation with a hammer and a blow torch the day before so the wood would sit flush with the concrete floor. Stupid winter! I did get to use the blow torch. Both Matt and Todd reminded me not to light anyone on fire, or melt my boots, or explode the propane tank. Thanks for the confidence boys.
After all that prep work, Matt whipped up some bearing walls in no time. I was so impressed with how quickly he was able to do everything. He was barely even thinking about it. Now, lest I deceive you, I must admit he isn't perfect. There were a few places where he made mistakes because he was working without another framer (Todd notices when we do something wrong, or Matt asks before he does stuff- but Todd wasn't there). But still, in one day, it was very impressive that they all got done! I think Matt was very close to strangling Randy. I was warned that Matt and I would fight a lot while building our house because I would supposedly question everything that Matt did. Well, it wasn't me questioning everything, but big brother Randy. Matt was getting so frustrated having to explain everything! I definitely understand where Brad gets his personality from!
Matt did let me use the tools today! I was in charge of using a drill, a very long drill, to drill into the concrete foundation so they could use anchor bolts to connect the plate (bottom part of the bearing walls) to the concrete. These tools were definitely made for big man hands, because I couldn't quite keep my finger on the trigger of the drill comfortably. I needed to take a few breaks, switch hands, even sit down at one point, but they all got done. I also helped lay the wood out so Matt could nail the walls all together.
All three bearing walls:
This will be where our stairs to the basement will be:
Can't really tell a difference from the front view:
Okay, day three. Saturday. Tim and Randy both came to help today, which was soooo good because in hindsight, there was no way I could have done what they did, or even close! Today we finished up the bearing walls in the basement so they would be ready to start building the floor for the main level. Matt has been trying to explain this process to me for months, but only after seeing it done did I fully understand.
I should have taken a close-up picture of this, but I think I can explain it. So there is another special kind of wood, called a JOIST. Matt pronounces it "joyce" so I was confused when I saw the actual spelling written on the invoice. The floor joist is basically a strip of plywood that is just under 12 inches high with a 1x1? 2x2? piece of regular wood on the top and bottom. And they are LONG. Really long. They have to span your entire house, so of course they are long. So you cut them to size and they sit on the plate that you cut and secured two days ago. They have to go every 16 inches across your entire house, because your FLOOR, everything on your main floor, will be sitting on these. Seriously. Jump up and down on your main floor after you read this. That is WOOD under your feet holding you up. Little skinny pieces of wood. It blows my mind but makes total sense at the same time. Again, I was in charge of measuring. Tim and Randy were champs with the saw and carrying those heavy joists and putting them in place.
Hole for the stairs into the basement. Crazy Matt tight-rope walking across the UNsecured joists. I only told him to be careful once. He told me I was not allowed to come the day they set the trusses for our roof. I agreed. I do not need to have a heart-attack every second while I watch my husband walk on sketchy, unsecured wood with no harness.
Ta da! This is where my future mudroom and kitchen will be! On top of those joists!
And this is where my future dining room and entry way will be!
And this is where the living room and master bedroom/bathroom/closet will be!
View from below- starting to feel like a basement now that there is some kind of ceiling. View of the future under-stair closet and part of the great room:
View of the water heater room and storage room- hence the two doorways:
View of the space that will soon be closets for the bedrooms, the bathroom, and front bedroom in the basement:
View of the two bedrooms and bathroom from the front:
I find myself saying this a lot, but it is starting to feel like a real house! There are real rooms and the spaces are easy to see and even walls and almost a floor!
Sad extra story about this day:
Matt and I, and everyone in our house, have been fighting the stomach flu since Christmas. I had it mostly on day 2 of working on the house. I tried to still be helpful, but was so weak from being sick and not eating anything that I'm sure Matt is lying when he tells me that I helped. Matt had the stomach flu the night after I did and into day 3. He was still battling it while we were putting in the floor joist. At the end of the day, he started putting on the plywood to cover the joist and act as the floor, when he got violently sick. His brothers are laughing hysterically. I'm clueless, and ask what's going on, and I look over at Matt, kneeling on the side of the house, throwing up into the snow. Poor guy! We were definitely done after that.
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