Windows and Doors

I did some cleanup around the work site. I used the wheelbarrow to bring wood scraps and unusable cardboard to our "pond" (currently a hole for burning and source of a nasty vine). I realized I am sick of having stacks of usable cardboard, that I am saving for a bottom layer for a garden, lying around hither and yon, so I started a stack on a pallet. I think that qualifies as nesting.

Phil cut the remaining plywood for flooring, but since there is still standing water in the crawlspace, we are waiting to put it down permanently.

Salesmen with windows and doors was going to come around 1:30 this afternoon. I was sitting by the window in the trailer. At 3pm, Phil came in. "I'm sorry they are so late!" I said. Phil gave me a strange look.

The weeds outside the window are higher than I realized, since the salesmen had come and gone without my notice! They took measurements, took note of Phil's preferences, and will get back to us. They also left a 20 page catalog solely on interior doors. The catalog for exterior doors is 108 pages! And did you know that some windows today have blinds built in, somehow fitting inside the glass panes? Phil is pretty sure he's designed the space well enough that blinds in the windows are unnecessary, but that was an innovation I'd not heard of.

One of the things on the list of projects is to make a trench for drainage. In order to get the backhoe out, Phil needs to clear things out of the garage. I reviewed a lot of books this spring, and had a pallet of rejects. We had loaded them this spring and the library was closed due to Jefferson's birthday, so they have been just sitting in the barn. Today, after checking to ensure the library was open, Phil brought the pallet in, and did a load of laundry so he could have some clean shorts to wear while working.

Back home, he attempted to cut the cantilevered joists along the south wall, so he could put up rimboard and finish the decking. Sadly, his cordless saw conked out last week, after the two levels of protection he had from rain both failed. He tried cutting the joists with the skillsaw, but that is a heavy tool to use in midair, and he wasn't pleased with how non-vertical the cuts were. As the sun went down, he thinks he managed to get the cordless saw working again, only losing two springs in the process. One of those was important.

My Mom once built a corporate building. Her general contractor told her there were 10,000 decisions to be made for a building. As long as Phil was doing block, the decisions weren't a big deal. But now the decisions are becoming a big deal. For example, Phil put down wood on the floor next to a column. That wood symbolizes a wall. Do we want the wall flush with the column on one side, with about 3" of exposed wood on the other side? And if so, which wall gets the wood and which gets the drywall? Or do we split the difference, so each room has an inch of exposed wood?

This reminds me a bit of the caterer for our wedding. She asked such questions as, "Would you like white plasticware or clear?" I could not imagine caring.

In this case, I don't have a preference, but I bet, once finished, such questions as the inch placement of a wall will become important. Ugh.

To decompress, I think I'll look through that 108 page exterior door catalog.