So, yesterday, about the time I was about to tell JT that I was going to lie down for a few days, he says to me, "I wanna work on the fort." My evil plan worked! Ignore the fort until he gets the hankering. Wonderful timing, kid.
The next step was to hang the floor joists. And, yes, I mean hang. I got joist hangers. I can't toenail a stud to save my life, and I knew I'd never get the cut precise enough, anyway. I cut the joists and he hung them--with a little help.
We were short two joist hangers because I decided to use a pair for the porch. That way, all the weight would be on the cantilevered beams and not on the screws screwed into the cantilevered beams. The porch is only two feet beyond the posts so we shouldn't need anymore support. I think.
Today, we dropped off the truck for a oil change, went to breakfast and two bookstores, then to the Land of the Orange Aprons. JT actually wanted to sit and read instead of look at things. Anyway, we got hardware for the window (including wood hardener--which then leaked all over the formerly-reusable shopping bag), two joist hangers, and a $5 gallon of flat black paint from the oops rack.
Sorry I don't have pictures, but after I cut the last joist JT put it in all by himself. (It got stuck, so I did turn it around and pound it into place with the hammer, but he did the rest.) He painted while I hand-sawed off the top of two of the posts and fixed one corner. I'll saw the other two when my arms have recovered and there's not wet paint to catch the sawdust.
I think I mentioned he wants to paint the whole thing black and red. Still, I thought black framing would be all right. And it's always best to paint wood that will be exposed to moisture and bugs. So we did. Tom even came out to help toward the end.
Yes. We were that tired. In fact, JT asked if, after painting, he could take a nap. Once finished, we got the truck, went to a hibachi restaurant to celebrate, and JT put himself to bed.
Next step: strip the old (probably lead-filled) paint off the window, slather it in wood-hardener, go to the salvage shop to look for flooring. This thing just might be done by first snow!
But I wouldn't count on it.
