BUILDING WALLS

The storage room project took a big step yesterday, when I started to frame the two interior walls.  By most any construction standards, this is a small job, and an experienced carpenter's progress would have been way ahead of where I ended up.  Setting aside the slow progress, I was happy with the days results when I ran out of lumber.

The start of the west interior wall.

 Patty got in on the action, pounding a nail into one of the wall studs.

When I had the first wall up, I started to drill the holes into the concrete for the red head bolts.  Even with a new masonry drill bit, this step took some doing, and quite a bit of time.  By mid afternoon, I had the west wall and half of the north wall up when it was time to make a run to Lowes for more lumber.

Since we moved here from Lake Havasu a few months ago, I've patronized  Home Depot, Lowes, and our local Ace hardware store.  It's about a 40 mile round trip to either one of the big box home improvement stores, and about half that distance to Ace hardware.  For the small stuff, I've made countless trips to Ace, and for the big expenditures, like a new refrigerator, I've made the longer trip to either Home Depot, or Lowes.  I've mentioned it before, but Lowes has a loosely supported policy of given Veterans a 10% discount.  The reason I say loosely supported, is that there have been a few times when I've mentioned that I'm a Vet, the sales clerk has told me that the 10% is only valid for active service members.  Most of the time, with proof of service (DD214), there's no problem, and the discount is given without question.  As an example, yesterday's lumber purchase at Lowes saved me $35.56.  I certainly appreciate the discount, but I think more importantly, I appreciate the fact that Lowes recognizes the service to our military, both active, retired, and folks like me, who gave a few years of our life to a branch of the service.

 The west wall is up.

 The north wall is just about ready for the door.

With a new supply of building materials, I'll be back at it this morning.  By the end of today, I should have everything framed up, and with any luck, that will include the ceiling joists.  When that's all done, the next steps will be the electrical, insulation, wall, and ceiling sheeting.