The floor 2

Saturday
It rained all night Friday/Saturday. Bill and I went up early hoping to get a full days work in. Laying the sub floor down is a one hammer difficulty project according to the do-it-yourself construction books.

Somehow things just weren't coming together. The floor is 24 x 30. That means that we should be using 3 full 4 x 8 sheets and need to make only 2 special cuts each row. One on each end. Now it would seem that you'd only have to do one cut, but it has to be on both ends because of the first and last sections NOT being 16" centres, since you have to go all the way to the exterior of the board, not the centre.

On well, shouldn't make much difference right? Wrong. You see, in real life, 4 x 8 sheets translate to 96 3/8" by 47 1/2" when the groove was not counted and 48" with the groove. Making the effective width 47 1/2". Problem was the joists were laid out for exactly 96" centers so after two or three boards the extra 3/8 of an inch pushes us off center. So we end up making about 4 cuts each row and end up with oddball sizes many of which cannot be reused cuz their too d@&^ small. Also, the 47 1/2 " width means there will be a 3" strip after laying the six rows that will have to be covered. Not much strength there.

The books also suggest that you use a special glue (caulk) to glue the sheets down before you nail them. Reduces the squeak I suppose. We were getting so much of that glue all over our hands that even though Bill hammered his thumb 3 times, there was only the slightest bruise. He had so much glue on his fingers that it deflected the blow. Maybe I should try that every week.

After a full days work, we we one special cut from being done with 3 rows, only 3 more rows plus to go. Even when we stopped it took another hour just to tidy up and get tarps over everything. Just after we had tarped everything, Bill took a step, onto the special cut spot that we didn't finish that night. He couldn't see that it wasn't solid as the tarp made it appear so. Luckly, the tarp only gave so much and he didn't go crashing all the way through. It was enough to shake you up though.

Needless to say, we were tired when we got back home. If this is only a one hammer, we're in for it. Bill is already trying to talk me out of the dormers.

Sunday
I had to leave this morning for O'Toronto for work, so Bill and I couldn't work at the cottage together. To finish the floor you really need 2 people. If you have any brains at all you won't even try to cut those 4 x 8 sheets by yourself. Too floppy. Too dangerous.

I knew Bill hoped to go up to work a bit. So I suggested that he put down some full sheets in the last 2 rows. If he lined them up so that we'd need the least number of special cuts it would work out and not be so much lost time.

I'd had bad feelings all night of him working up there alone and taking one bad step and falling onto the joists and breaking a hip or leg or something and no one there to help him. We don't have a cell phone and even if we did, they don't work up there half the time.
Anyway, so first chance I get I call home at the end of my day and am relieved that he answers the phone. Go ahead, call me neurotic.

So apparently he got done what he had hoped and also water proofed the flooring so we don't have to worry about tarping them, only the stack of not yet used sheets. He still seemed disappointed with our progress this weekend though. We'll have a 4 day weekend soon and be able to catch up. Or so we hope.