Showing posts with label slab houses. Show all posts
Showing posts with label slab houses. Show all posts

Saturday, July 17, 2010

Construction man going wild

Ever done something and the next morning regretted it? I have that feeling this morning. It is not an alcohol induced remorse, but rather a physical one. I am not exactly a weekend warrior, so the exhaustion and lactose buildup is not due to some athletic endeavor. No, I thought I would help my daughter out and do some remodeling on her house.

I have done some restructuring of houses in my time. I built multiple decks, torn down walls and redone them, tiled floors, put in windows... you get the idea. All I had to do here was raise her sunken living room floor by four inches. No problem... I just take out the carpeting, frame up the outside, lay the joists and then put down the plywood sub floor. Easy... I get to use my new Craftsman Hammer and I will be done by evening.

What was it that Shakespeare said about mice and men and plans?

What I did not expect was that construction of the house involved a four inch lip around it before the carpenter put up walls. In the Midwest, slab houses usually are a slab, then the walls are put on that, so I thought it would be no problem. Here I have to drill into the lip. This took me all day to do ONE hole, and I knew there had to be a better way. I went to Ace and talked to the helpful hardware man, he reiterated the bolt method. I went to Home Depot and they said I should get a nail gun and literally shoot the nails into the concrete. Sounds like fun. Me, a powder charge and nails... WOOT!

So I dragged myself out of bed this morning ready to get armed and dangerous. Look out world, I will be shooting the nail gun soon.

Who said that remodeling is not challenging?

Doughnut