12.24.2015

The morning began with more fog and drizzle.  It worked out okay because Jim planned to go to the electric supply company to put in his order for wire and other electric supplies.  He also stopped by the cold-formed steel place but they were closed for Christmas Eve.

It was an amazingly warm day for December 24th, but unfortunately all that fog and humidity in the air from the warmer temperatures created a wet mess at the property.  Every piece of steel inside was damp and sweaty, tools were damp, and the roof was definitely wet.  So some work had to wait until everything dried up a bit.

Once we got started, the first thing he did was to shore up the other side of the scaffolding on top of the auto bay roof.

Strapping went on the pieces of sheathing we got up yesterday.

The next piece of sheathing was an 8' piece with just a tiny corner cut off.  This was probably the most difficult piece of sheathing we have done so far.  There was absolutely no room to maneuver the sheathing outside - either the window frames, the ceiling joists or the roof was in the way every different way Jim tried.  He finally got it up on the joists....

...and then somehow managed to get it out the top.

Then he had to scramble down the inside scaffolding and get outside.  But that was even harder.  It didn't want to come out easily and Jim had one scaffolding platform to stand on so he had absolutely no leverage to try and pull hard to get it out. 

It didn't help that it got very windy about this time - so Jim is standing on a little platform trying to control this 8' piece of plywood and then somehow maneuver it in place against the wall - which happens to be at least 18" away from the scaffolding.  It was all horrible to watch!

But he managed to get it into place.  Then the fastening began.

Cutting out the window - at least the parts he could reach before the scaffolding interfered.

He decided to try his Sawzall to cut out the rest and it worked well.

And we have another window!

Standing precariously - one foot on the scaffolding and one foot on the ladder! - putting the screws in around the window frame.

Cutting the little triangle for the end.

After that last piece, this one should be a piece of cake.  However, there is no place to clamp the piece into place.  Jim would need 3 hands to hold it down and fasten it!  He put up a little cleat to hold the bottom in place so he could fasten the rest.

To reach the top of this course, the regular ladder wasn't enough.  Jim had to get his extension ladder that we normally use to get up and down into the apartment and set that up on the planks.

Then it was time for house wrap for this section!

Stapling the house wrap into place.

Another great day - this side of the wall is really taking shape.  Jim wants to finish everything he needs the scaffolding tower on this side - including putting in the window - and then we'll be able to tear the tower down and build it up on the other side.

 

Merry Christmas Eve!

 

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