Header

Well, technically, since this is sorta a post and beam structure, I guess this piece would be called a girt. It's the horizontal member that supports the gable end of the roof. But we're nothing if not wingin' this puppy, so feel free to call it a header or a top plate or a roofie-thingy.

As I may have mentioned before, it proved exceedingly difficult to screw in a treated 2x6 eight feet above the ground with an 8-yo holding the other end. Other adult help was scarce, so I realized the best course of action was probably to use a cleat.

French cleats are used to hang heavy wall cabinets. This wasn't as elegant; in fact, it could probably more accurately be called a jerry-rigged bracket. First we found a piece of scrap 2x4, then a piece of scrap 1x4. Then we nailed them together:



Then we nailed them to the post where the header/girt/thingie needed to be supported:


(This is a pic of JT holding the cleat/bracket up after we were done because I forgot to take a picture beforehand.)

Once it was up, I realized the 1x6 would probably stay on better if it was screwed and not just nailed. So I did that.

Then I hoisted the 2x6 onto the bracket. I decided to nail the other end first so I wouldn't have to hold it up while I was trying to screw it in. Then I put the first screw in. It was very, very hard. That end must have had a knot or something. Before I could get the screw in all the way, the cleat came off and the 2x6 fell onto my shoulder. (It didn't fall very far. In fact, my shoulder was right underneath it. But my shoulder was also about 8 inches from the fulcrum of an 8-foot board, so it wasn't entirely pleasant.)

Wherein our heroine realizes she's an idiot and screws the cleat onto the post.



But, in the end, it worked. The right end of that stinkin' 2x6 was so stinkin' hard I had to drill pilot holes. And I didn't let JT up there for fear it would fall on his head. (He can go to town when we put in the floor.) And it was still so hard to hold up the board while fastening it that it dropped a little and turned out to be not quite level.

At this point it felt like it was about 95 degrees. I know it wasn't because right now it's noon, and it's only 90. But it just felt miserable. Weather.com promises the rest of the week will be cooler, so we called it a day--but not before JT had the brilliant idea of putting our gear in the shed instead of putting it carefully away in the garage where we'd have to make 78 trips to get it again.

Told you he's smart.

Much to his dismay, there was still worksheets to be done. I split up the different types of walls into solid (stone, adobe, log cabins, Earth Ships, etc.) and "frames with something covering it" (tepees, yurts, post and beam, stick-framed). He did solid walls today, and it went much better than the foundation assignment.

"Why?" you ask. Maybe because his mother finally got bright enough to go through the pages with him instead of making him read them on his own. He started out level-7 crabby and ended up goofy. And did really well on his assignment sheet, only taking about 20 minutes to do it, and correcting his mistakes fairly easily. Yea!



My attempt, here, isn't to make JT a residential architecture expert in one summer. I'm trying to combine something he loves--construction--with something he struggles with--reading comprehension. I'm also learning what he needs to understand what's being said. Today, to understand what a stick-framed house and what a continuous foundation are, we went into the garage and looked at them. I'm already impressed by the respect he gives tools and the care he takes around the site.

In the future, worksheets will include:
- "Frame with something covering it" walls
- Types of roofs
- Types of floors
- Tool care and site safety

I hope we can get all this done--he only has five weeks left until school starts again.

We also realized yesterday that the flooring sample tiles my boss gave him could be cut to a standard size and glued onto a table top to make a great chess board.

Things I learned:
- I really should look into using lag bolts.
- I really should look into getting a laser level.

One last thing. After working on the fort last Thursday, JT decided he needed some work boots. Volume didn't have his size, but Target did. He's terribly proud.



(He's also in absolute awe that his mother could cut the sleeves off a t-shirt to make a tank-top and cut the legs off some old jeans to make shorts. And yet he expects me to make his fort lickety-split.)