The flooring begins.

4/6/19:

Building Summary: Today I began the process of laying down and fastening the ¾-inch plywood floor. This included marking the walls / kitchen rise where the sub-boards (2x4s) run*, measuring how large to cut the plywood pieces, cutting those plywood pieces, and then fastening them onto the previously installed ‘floorboards’ with 1-⁵/₈” deck screws.

Commentary: I looked forward to this day for quite some time, and I must say that it satisfied all expectations: both the fact that it is fairly rigorous work with lots of getting up and down on the knees and the satisfaction of striding unhobbled over a flat wooden expanse. That latter bit is definitely today’s main highlight. It’s almost a sense of freedom to walk upon that fine, flat floor.

On a side note, Padre pointed out something beneath Jacobhouse’s southwest side that made us both reminisce. They were small pieces of wood: short algae-coated furring strips hidden beneath some stray brown grass. It seemed so long ago that we were using those makeshift stakes to plot out locations for the pylons upon which the container home now sits. And it also made me wonder… how long ago was it, really?

This warranted a look at the ole archives, and I soon discovered the date those stakes last served their purpose. The below picture and entry were taken and recorded just a hair over eight months ago**:

Final Note: Tomorrow there will be more flooring activity. Yep.

Additional Information: I don’t know where I learned it, but I’ve been putting ~1/16 – 1/8 inch gaps between the plywood and the walls to either side. This is to prevent squeaking in the event of expansion and shrinkage.

* The purpose of this was so I could have reference points when it came time to put in the screws.

** The stakes mentioned above can be seen laid along the hole… and apologies for the quality. I was taking pictures with my phone back in those days.