I've been Framed

Despite having the day off, I was still up around 6am in an attempt to have my exercise routine behind me early as if it were a work day. And really, it was a work day. The only difference being that I would be working on a personal goal, framing my basement.

The coffee maker performed well after clearing that clog in the pass thru lid. That made me happy. Completed calisthenics: sit-ups, windmills, and curls. Took Mindy coffee around 620am. Kenny said to expect he and his crew around 9am. To that end, I really needed to do my run before seeing Bella off on the school bus. I did a stretch and then headed out for a run until shortly after 7am.

I thought briefly about curtailing my run to just three miles but ended up doing the full 4.1 miles like any other week day. Glad I did. Was back at the house shortly before 8am. By the time I walked the pug it was darn near time to head out with Bella. Kenny was at the bus stop with Makayla. Shared that I would see him shortly. After the bus swooped up the kids I headed back to the house to get ready for a day of framing.

Mindy picked up four Wal-Mart subs for Kenny’s crew to eat. I picked up a case of Labatt Blue, their favorite beer. I had it chilling in the two fridges. I played around online until 855am. Kenny and crew showed up around 910am.

I helped carry in a few major tools: the air compressor, nail guns, and professional miter saw and stand. We spent the first 90 minutes reviewing the design, marking off the door locations and then chalking lines for the floor plate. Even though I bought Tap Cons for the floor plate, Kenny decided to use Ramset nails instead. And boy are they loud. Sounds like a shotgun blast with each nail. Only one small mishap where we had to pry it loose from the floor and move it. The ramset nails hold well. While Ivan and Scotty mounted the plates, Kenny was marking the ceiling joists for the top plate and figuring out how we were going to box in the two windows.

By noon, we had both the bottom and top plates mounted and just shy of half the basement framed. I was in awe! My role was relegated to gopher, which was fine by me. We took an hour’s lunch near noon. I asked Kenny if beer was appropriate. Nope!

Finished framing all the walls by 230pm. Unbelievable! We still needed to add blocking for the drywall and then box in duct work, which took another hour or so. By the time the kids were home from school the job was done. And not only was it done, but it was done right. Rock solid frame job. I am still very impressed and indebted to Kenny and team. They work well together.

Once we finished and carried all the tools back to the trailer, the beer was fair game. Scotty left to take the trailer back. Ivan and Kenny stayed to drink some beer and have a little more food. Mindy had something going on after school, but just what, I wasn’t sure. Kenny & Ivan hung out until 530-6pm.

Even though Kenny was helping as a friend and neighbor, and also after losing a friendly wager, I felt the need to give he and his crew some cash. The weather took a slight turn for the worse. Not only had it clouded over, but the temperature dropped like a rock. We were expecting rain overnight and then much cooler temperatures through the Memorial Day holiday with highs mostly in the mid 60s.

Talked with Mindy around 630-7pm. Said she was still at school and expected to be there a little while longer. At some point I headed out to the shed to fetch a few irrigation marking flags to mark the mainline cut on the westside of the house. I called and left a message for Nationwide irrigation on Wednesday afternoon. They left me a message earlier sharing that they would come out on Friday to make the repair. Said that I need not be home but to have the cut marked. Cool! I thought about digging back around the cut, but Kenny insisted that was overkill. I ended up simply marking the small hole exposing the cut.

Mindy got home around 730-8pm. I was anxious to show her the basement. She was in awe of their work too. Bella was excited, too, and asked if she could take a box of sawed 2X4s to her room to introduce the smell of Lowes. She later asked if we could actually saw a couple boards in her room over the trashcan to create saw dust and the telltale smell that comes with it. She wasn’t kidding wither. She loves that smell. 

I drank three beers earlier with Kenny. I had a pretty good buzz going until about 8pm when it finally began to wear off. I wasn’t too long for the evening. I fell asleep watching TV on the sofa around 9pm. I woke and headed for bed around 10pm.