If I count the day I knocked apart the incorrectly-built wall for the second time as a day of working on the workshop (which would be Day 9), yesterday was Day 10 of the project. My dad came down to lend a hand with my squaring-of-walls problem. He brought along his Porter-Cable framing nailer, which turned out to be the handiest damn tool in the ( Read more... )

Why do I love watching Top Gear on BBC-A?

Because Jeremy Clarkson just drove a Ford Fiesta off a British LCVP as part of a Royal Marine beach assault exercise.

I discovered that it is important to refer to your plan when building. Do not assume you have remembered how the wall was laid out in your drawing. I also learned that there is a vast range in quality of nails. After fighting for hours to get framing nails pounded into the studs of my first wall, I found that I had not laid the studs out properly ( Read more... )

It rained a little last night and I was afraid I wouldn't get a chance to work on the workshop today, but the rain held off and I was able to do quite a bit. I finished nailing down the plywood flooring. Then I hauled out the chop-saw and cut all the full-size wall studs and the top and bottom plates for the two short walls. Weather.com is ( Read more... )

( Here's the update after the 6th day of construction: )

Thanks to Google I now know that today is Giovanni Schiaparelli's birthday. It is indirectly his fault that people thought Mars had canals. The real fault lies with people who can't translate from Italian, but if you can blame something on the Eye-ties, you ought to try.

Finished nailing the basic frame and began nailing the first double rim joist. No pics, 'cause nailed boards are not that interesting. I ought to take a shot of the huge number of clamps I'm using to hold shit together while I nail it though. Tomorrow I'm gonna pick up another framing hammer so Steven can help me put all these nails in.

Hammered ( Read more... )

I managed to get the joist hangers realigned on the beams so the joists will sit flush. That was the easy part of today's work. Then it was time to close up the hangers around the joists. Well, that was easier said than done. Every time I'd hammer one set of nails in one end, the damn board on the opposite side would pull out its nails. It was like ( Read more... )

( More of the workshop project: )

( The second day: )