Cleavage is Everything!

We have managed to get at least half of the main floor decking down. Jim hauled the plywood over, cut any pieces that needed to be cut, put the adhesive on the joists and placed the plywood. I had the tremendously, difficult job of standing on the plywood while he pounded the tongue and groove part together. Then, with increasing skill, I screwed the plywood in place using a rented floor screw gun. At the start of the day, I had a few misses as the screw gun was finicky but by the end of the day, I could claim several sheets as perfect screws. No comments!! The trick is to hold the trigger in your left hand and firmly jam it between your boobs. When you bend over to set the next screw, you and the screw gun are perfectly perpendicular and the screws go in just dandy.

Check out my new Ryobi cordless drill! Jim got me my Christmas present early as we were putting down the flooring and needed the extra cordless. This gives us two Ryobi drills so we can share battery packs. And yes...I asked for it. Next Christmas, I'm thinking diamonds but this is the perfect gift for this year.

David with the Strong Back

As much as yesterday was challenging, weather wise, today is lovely. It's been made even more so by the arrival of Jim's brother, David. The sun is shining, the wind has dropped and the temperature is above zero. David spent the day helping Jim finish off the truss placement, haul the floor trusses for the basement floor around to the back of the house and placing the strong backs in the trusses. Strong backs are 2x6's laid end to end and designed to stiffen the floor and reduce vibration. They are placed under the top rail of the truss and nailed into place.

Big Brave Jim and the Nasty Weather

Here it is December 9 and the world, as we know it, is about to freeze over. It's -17C with a nasty southeast wind and snow off and on. This is our first real taste of winter this year and according to the weather broadcasts it isn't going to get any better until April. I run out of the warm truck to help Jim carry another truss and run back and hide out of the wind while he secures it in place. There's Jim waving bravely as I go to fetch his glove which has fallen into the basement. Unfortunately, this is the last day for our rental truck but as the much loved Ford 4x4 is in the process of being reassembled, it shouldn't be too long before we have all the Farrell wheels back on the road.

Two Handsome Fellas

Poor Allan was suffering from a dreadful cold but donned Dad's quilted coveralls and hauled washed rock to cover weeping tile in the freezing rain. What a guy! Both he and I noted all the ruckus coming from the cow pasture next to us...Jim didn't have his hearing aids in so he missed it. The cows, obviously, don't like freezing rain any more than we do. They were mooing up quite a chorus.

Jim and Allan posed for a photo just before we had to call it a day. Handsome even in their work wear.

Dry Wells

Jim has put extra insulation over the weeping tile to ensure that the basement wall will be the warmest possible. As our house is built on a hill and the back is much lower than where the house is sited, we can avoid installing a sump pump by having the weeping tile drain to the low area in the back...essentially, a dry well. When the back filling continues next week, this will all be filled in.

Mud, Mud Everywhere

December 5 and the wood package has arrived. Star Building has provided all the wood, etc. required to get the floors down and do the framing. This was only the first part of the package and we will get the rest a little later as we didn't want all of it out in the winter weather. There is another house being built down the road from us and concrete was being delivered to them today. We needed a little bit to fill a piling that will support the front veranda, so we asked the concrete people if they could off-load any left-overs into our waiting sonotube. Sure enough, a little while later the truck was backing into our yard and one more job is finished. Although it was quite cloudy all day, it was very warm and all that dirt that you see was actually mud. We managed to drag a fair bit back to the condo in Beaumont. Yippee...more work.

Frig, It's Cold!

December 1 was +6. Yesterday, although it was -1, was one of those big, bright, blue-sky days that we prairie people take for granted. Then today, December 4, dawned dreary and -15. Winter seems to be here to stay. We can't complain (though we will anyway) as we've had a very long, warm fall.

Regardless, it was a banner day as the back filling has begun. This makes moving the floor trusses on to the wall much easier, not to mention, safer. It also may act as an enticement for Bob to come back as he won't have to work in the "trenches".