Monday, October 10, 2011

Working on the Barn

I contacted KB and he showed up to work on the barn. Granted, he said he could do two days last week and we ended up only doing one, but at this point, I’ll take what I can get. He’s very enthusiastic and gung ho about this project, and he has alluded to making lots of progress over the next year, but we’ll see. For now, we’re happy things are moving along.

The first order of business was to put a new floor in the second story. He said the previous floor was too thin, and even I could see that it was buckling and uneven. He mentioned that when it’s like that, the flooring won’t go on evenly, like tiles or wood, even linoleum, so the plan was to put 3/4 inch plywood over it.

The truck arrived from LaValley’s and delivered a bunch of wood. From my wealth of experience, I could recognize the framing material in addition to the plywood, so I could see the KB was planning ahead. The idea is to frame the walls and then the bathroom downstairs after the floor is done.

He said it would go faster if he had a helper, and he could bring along one, or if I had the time, I could do it. It worked out that I had time, also because the kids are recovering from colds, so we could blow off tennis. I told KB, however, that the goal is to get this barn done, even I’m not around, and he’s fine with that. The take home message is that if someone can help him, the faster it will go. Say no more.

I helped out as best I could, helping him unload the wood (there was a ton of it), sweeping, applying glue. I even got to nail the boards in with the nail gun, which scares me. Watch those hands and feet. We got a little over halfway done when I finally had to go to take the kids to an activity. KB stayed behind and worked for another hour, but I think the brunt of the two man work is done.

In fact, I’m toying with the idea of carrying on what we started and getting it as far along as I can. KB can’t come back until later this week, and we might not be around, so if I can knock off a bunch of it, then less work for him and we can move onto the next big stage, whatever that is.

It’s exciting that things are moving forward, though the idea of nailing in those floorboards by hand is a bit daunting after using that nail gun. Oh well, that’s what framing hammers are for.

Until the next time, thanks for reading.

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