We Have Cold(er) Feet

We did a bit of work during the week of Thanksgiving. My brother-in-law came to stay with us for a week and, well, we had to keep him entertained as best we could. One of the first things we did was to visit the dump. Actually, we go to the transfer station. It's a lot like the garbage pit/compacter from the first Star Wars movie. B-i-L loaded up my spouse's truck with about a half ton of wood, concrete, and steel pipe debris. Here are a couple of photos (one of B-i-L in the truck at the transfer station, the other of the debris in the "trench-of-death".

On the day before Turkey day, a friend of my spouse's dropped by for a visit. B-i-L and I had already taken out the 2x4s in one of the locations where we needed to install a new post (to support the beam) so Mr. S helped me install the new post and nail it in place. Here are a couple of photos (one is a before shot, the other is Mr. S posing with the new post).

Like any good construction team, we spent a lot of time making sure one person was working while the others offered suggestions and made sure most safety measures were being adhered to. The second post location required lots of conversation and it was very entertaining.

Turkey day was very nice. A couple of months ago, we were eager to have Thanksgiving at our house. A week ago or so, some friends talked some sense into us and got us to come over to their place for Thanksgiving. So we packed up and cooked over there. It sure was a lot warmer in a house with a ceiling.

With all the company in town though, we couldn't help but take advantage. Mr. S was coming over on Black Friday so B-i-L and I decided to get a head start and attacked the second post location. To get at it we had to blow a hole in the outer wall and remove the windows in that area.

Our demo work was a little on the surgical side since we didn't want to add to any structural problems. We found that the windows weren't really fastened to the frame of the house. They were just floating in the openings with an awful lot of hardened putty around the edges to keep them from falling out. We guess we don't really know if this is the way windows were supposed to be installed back in the old days (1980 or so), but it doesn't seem like the best way to do it if you ask us.

We found a little wood damage under where the post was going to be placed, chiseled out the area and added a piece of good wood to fill the void.

We used some of the original cedar 2x4 material to bridge the area both on bottom and at the top where the post and beam will be set. We have to do this area first so that we can support the roof with the beam before we blow out the rest of the walls (that are also supporting the roof).

With the posts installed, it was time to unwrap and place the beam. Unwrapping the beam was not unlike unwrapping a large candy bar. After placing the beam, B-i-L noticed that the word TOP was stamped on the bottom of the beam. After puzzling over this strange instruction for a while, we flipped the beam over so we couldn't read the confusing word anymore.

With the beam in place, we decided to call it a day. Nailing the beam in place could happen the next day. We tapped plastic over the outside and inside of the hole. It's a little colder in the house now, especially since it started snowing. It's noisier and draftier, too.

I've taped all the air leaks in my office space (which has been sealed off from the living room with plastic for months now). I've also started wearing my sleeping bag while I work at my computer. That, plus my little space heater, keeps me pretty toasty during the day while I work. We've taped off the nook as well (where we are keeping our plants). There's a heater in there and the plants seem happy enough.