When I left off last night, we were at Saturday morning and
our shopping trip to gather the necessary materials. We picked up several jacks
but decided not to get all of them on that trip. Eric had already decided to
change some of the jacks to wood post,s and we would be coming back for those
after taking some additional measurements. (Fortunately it’s not a long drive
from the Bungalow to the Hardware store!) We also acquired nails, brackets, and
boards. Eric then headed out to begin the work and I went by Grandma’s to
change her pain patch before heading to the Bungalow.
These are the jacks that were to be used to support the floor.
When I arrived Eric and Dad had unloaded everything and
taken it on downstairs. I must say, it’s nice to have an exterior door to the
basement. It makes working down there much easier! They had also gotten all of
the necessary tools out and started on the first beam. (Notice there are no
quotes around the word beam… That’s because they were creating the real
thing!!!)
The back line is where the old "beams" ran. The brown line is the new ones. There will be two attached to a post in the middle for extra support.
For the main beam we had purchased 12’ long 2x8’s that would
be nailed together and stood on their sides for extra strength. Since we could
only get 12’ long boards, they would have to be extended to sixteen feet and
twelve and one half feet to cover the entire length. To create the beam one
long board was laid down flat and a short nailed to the end, and then a long
board was nailed to the remaining length so that it hung over the end. Then the
whole thing was flipped over and another short board was nailed to the length.
This keeps the joints staggered and strengthens the entire beam.
The joint between the two top boards can be seen in this picture. The other joint can't be seen as it is on the other end on the underside.
Eric and Dad had barely started this process when I arrived
and were having a terrible time with the wood. It was so hard that the nails
were bending when hit at the slightest angle and were actually wrinkling and
compressing when hit squarely. This was after having to change the blade on the
saw because it wouldn’t cut the boards! The other issue we had run into was
that the jacks we purchased were one size too tall and could not be stood upright
even at the lowest level. So I headed back to the hardware store to pick up
bigger nails, replace the jacks, and purchase the wood posts that were wanted.
Even the hardware store took longer than it normally would
have. I had to wait for an associate to help me get the jacks out to return
them and then wait again for someone to get the posts and jacks for me. And
they didn’t have the correct size jacks, so I was unable to get them while I
was there. But it was to be expected as everything takes me longer these days.
I have regained a small amount to the strength I lost while sick, but am still
nowhere near my normal self.
Once again, this is running very long, so I will stop here
for the day and post again tomorrow.
-Amanda
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