Hurt Leg

It's Tuesday and I haven't been out to the site since Sunday. When we finished working (Sunday afternoon), I went to Youth Group at our Church (I'm one of the misguided Youth Leaders). While we were waiting for parents to pick up their kids, I was "rough housing" a little (chasing one of the kids) and hurt my calf muscle. It felt like my leg exploded! I haven't been able to walk much since then. I'm not sure if I pulled a muscle or tore a ligament but, I'm going to the doctor tomorrow to find out. This sucks! I want to work on my house in the evening and I can barely walk.

Deck the Walls! Er.. Well, Deck and Walls!

Sunday came and we decked the entire floor! It was only twenty four sheet of 23/32" OSB.

During the following week, I went out there and started cutting some of the Cedar trees that were going to be in the way of raising the walls.

Saturday came and I had help once again (my friend Larry P.) and we started building the walls. It took us both Saturday and Sunday to Build two walls! I used to be much faster at this sort of thing. Anyway, we raised one 32' long wall and tried to raise the other but, it was just a little to heavy for the two of us. I called my friend Lee (who was just getting out of Church - where I should've been), and with his help, we got it raised and braced.

Level, Flat, Square and Straight

The weekend before last, a couple of friends and I met onsite and started building the house proper. First we set the concrete pads and blocks and squared them (a foundation method that has been used for a very long time and has proven itself well for small structures). Then, we built the beams that would span between the blocks and carry the weight of the 2"x10" floor joist above. After that, we started laying out the floor joists and squaring them. When building a house, you must "re-square" and "re-level" every phase of construction. I haven't framed a house in about nine years and I'm amazed at how square this house seems to be at every level. Thank you God.
That was a lot of work for three guys on a Saturday so we called it a day and went home.

Getting Started

I arrived at the property at 6:50 (last Saturday morning) to a few of bundles of lumber. Some assembly may be required!