The bed of the Ranger was full of broken-down cardboard boxes and paper trash when I opened the shed’s double doors this morning. That chore would have to be handled before I did anything else today, and it was.
The temp was just over 40°F at that hour, and the roaring fire felt good.
I rolled up from the burn barrel, stopped at the cabin and grabbed what I needed — framing nailer, circular saw, impact driver, level, claw hammer, pencil, measuring tape, nails and a couple of 20V batteries. I parked the load in front of the shed and prepared to get to work building the loft.
Have I mentioned that I suck at carpentry?
The way I planned the project, I’d have to make only a couple of cuts today. I bought eight-foot 2x4s, and the corner nailers needed to be eight feet long (tall). My 2x6s were ten-footers, perfectly spanning our ten-foot-wide shed. Only the supports under the joists’ ends would require use of the saw.
It didn’t quite work out that way. I cut backer blocks for a couple of spots. And the narrow section of decking had to be shaved some to drop into place.
Anyway, with everything moved out from the work area, I began with the corner nailers (easy) and moved on to the joists (harder, only because I was working alone). After taking a brief coffee break, I lifted the plywood onto the joists (easier because I’d cut the 4×8 sheet in half).
Beginning with one of the 4×4 pieces, I made sure that it was registered correctly and fastened it to the joists with two-inch deck screws. I hoisted myself onto that platform and repeated the process with the next half-sheet.
The third and final section, 17 inches wide, proved stubborn. I broke out the DeWalt oscillating multi-tool (the first time I’d used anything like that) and chewed on the edge of the plywood until it fit.
That piece came from the sheet with a pronounced bow. Fortunately, driving the deck screws through it into the joists below took care of that.
Finally, I cut two 2x4s to 46 inches each and nailed them to the wall studs under the ends of the joists. I guess you could argue that it wasn’t necessary, even overkill. I say it’s cheap insurance.
And then it was done. Not bad for an old hack, if I do say so myself.
I didn’t load up the new loft today — truth is, I was too tired after building it to dance on the ladder any more. I did, however, sweep the floor and tidy up the joint. It’s what I do.
Maybe the best thing about the exercise was that I learned stuff. I logged more miles with my tools. I’m still not good at this shit, not yet, but it could be that I made some progress. My education continues.
I was awake at 4am today and out the door with Smudge before 5am. Taking my coffee early, I used my bonus time to write a fairly long blog post. I had something on my mind and needed to draw it out.
Ultimately, I canned that in favor of what you just read.
It’ll show up here eventually. The topic is a follow-up to something else I posted recently, and I want to say it right. Stay tuned.
Take care of yourselves, Patriots. Stay calm. Stay sharp. Stay free.
#WiseUp #LibertyOrDeath #Ungovernable
#LetsGoBrandon #FJB