Finally, a little construction...

Although you can hardly tell from the pictures, I got one heck of a lot done this weekend. Some of the framing needed to be reinforced, and after thinking about it for week, I decided that I needed to get it off the list.


First, I had to spend some time fixing the ceiling joists. A lot of these overlapped the wall header by only about a quarter inch. One of them didn't even make it to the wall header. I added four foot sisters to the troublesome joists.








The next problem area was around the chimney. The roof joists are supposed to be tied into load bearing walls. The bit of magic the builders did around the chimney left some of the supporting 2x4s virtually unattached, resulting in a support that didn't carry any load.

While the setup has endured a good number of earthquakes, I figured a little more structure couldn't hurt. Added a 16 foot triple 2x6 across the width, then a set of 2x4s horizontally between the new and old ceiling support joists, and finally a set of 2x4s vertically, all tied together with strongtie connectors. 2000 percent better than what was there before (ie, nothing).


With all the new support structure above, the flue can be framed in, or left open, depending on what I decide to do when I start to close things up.



















All of that framing would have been a bear without a little help from the guys at Porter Cable. What weekend is really complete without the joy you experience buying a new tool. :-).

This is a Porter Cable Framing nailer, capable of firing 3 1/2" nails into even old growth redwood. Thank god for the safety :-).


















That tool needs ammo, and it only comes in BIG BOXES.












How big is that box? Really BIG.