Gosh, I wish I could turn off my worry gene. This third week I hit a real low in my enthusiasm for this project. One measure of our progress is watching the piles of lumber disappear as they become walls and floors. Like rolling a giant boulder uphill or washing dishes or cleaning floors, using up these piles has become a Sisyphean feat. Just as the piles disappear more lumber gets delivered. Greg manages the delivery schedule for each floor’s needs to accommodate the yard space, however, all I see is reappearing work or an inbox that never empties. When a few more 30 foot LVLs showed up this week, I burst into tears. My anxiety about moving these giants got the best of me. But here’s why it’s stupid of me to think this way: we have equipment and the smarts and the ability to do hard work, so we can handle it.
Maybe I’m a little tired (ya think?) My experience knowing what’s left to finish and seeing the whole scope of the project and not focusing on the job-at-hand has me overwhelmed. And I know better than that. Just keep swimming!!!
As for the equipment, we are making great use of the forklift/Skytrak. To think we used to haul everything by hand up to each floor: lumber, plywood, tools, etc. And to top it off, Dan made excellent use of his of lifelong honed video gaming skills. He manuevered the boom just so to lift steel beams and giant LVLs into place and delivered lumber through window openings. We built a platform to be used on the boom to lift people for second story (or higher) work, like applying the Zip plywood siding. All in all, technology is a wonderful thing. We all drive the Skytrak now, although I’m not so good manuevering in tight places. The yard around the house is a muddy mess when it rains, those huge tires leaving wide ruts and giant puddles. What comes to mind is “Building Off the Grid” or “Building Alaska”, 2 HGTV shows I enjoy. If they can handle building under those conditions, we can handle suburban Pennsylvania. Although, speaking of ‘off the grid’, we will be using our rented gas-powered generator and air compressor a while longer while Verizon and the PA power authority dance their bureaucratic tango to determine who puts in whose power pole first. Oh, the beauty of the silence when these much appreciated tools are turned off!!!
So week 3 closed with the completion of second floor framing including interior walls (so many!), more I-joists and beams above to support the attic and roof, and attic plywood flooring. Anna and her friend Tina started applying Zip tape to the walls. Next, roof building. Some finesse required here to connect and raise ridge beams and rafters, but all that is for next week’s blog (and for Greg to work out).
My new reality 