theBarnstorming

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August 28, 2006

Cuttin' Trim

Ah, it's these finishing touches that seem like they'll go so quickly but end up being incredibly tedious (though gratifying).
As much as the space seems "ready" and is technically liveable, things like trim just can't be ignored. Way back in the planning stages of this thing, we sort of thought trim wasn't really mandatory and we could live without it. But after seeing what a fantastic job the wallboard guys did, it seemed almost a shame not to clean up the edges a bit and make it a really nice space. Plus, Uncle Ken just took it for granted that he would have to help us with the trim, and bought all the lumber before we could say, "Who needs trim?" And, ultimately, we're glad the man likes to do a good job.

So there was some sawing.

And hanging.

We learned that the sills had to go in first, and that really was the hard part, involving complicated cutting that was beyond layman's work. Thank goodness for Uncle Ken. He and Matthew and Dad were working like a well-oiled machine. Notice, though, how Uncle Ken is doing all the work, and Matthew and Dad are either holding up little pieces of wood that weigh less than three ounces or casting about aimlessly trying to look busy.

Keeping the clowns in check makes a body tired.

One of the windows required some amazing re-engineering, involving screw bolts and washers. The wall below the window was bowed out quite a bit, and with some fancy action on the power tools, Uncle Ken was somehow able to bring the wall back flush(er) so that the window frame wasn't sticking 3 inches off the wall on both sides. Again, technical acumen that we, the laymen, don't possess. It would have looked so bad if we had done it ourselves.

And, voila! Doesn't this look so much better?

And then there was the matter of our glass block window. We had imagined it going in months ago, but somehow it kept getting put off, as easy to install at any stage of the game. The game is finally coming close enough to the end that we had to install it. Hooray! It was a little bit more of a project - the framing style is "picture frame" which means that the corners are mitered. This makes for a lot more precision work. Notice how closely dad is inspecting the work.

Notice how Matthew is casually observing the old hands do all the work.

And, in case you were wondering why I'm not in any of these pictures, it's because I pooped out and ended up taking a nap on the couch in the gallery while everyone else worked. How's that for being useless?

Again, Matthew and Dad struggle to hold up 2 feet of quarter round while Uncle Ken hammers away.

Voila, again!

And again, Voila!

Once the windows were done, it was on to the doors. Same process, different dimensions, and no sills to worry about. And now that dad and matthew had gained some expertise, it went pretty quickly. Strangely enough, with doors you actually put the frame on first, and then put it into the hole in the wall. That way you don't just knock the door out of the hole while trying to hammer it in. Again, this is the sort of thing that only years of experience (or, at least an hour of experience) will inform - had we done this ourselves, I can see that it would have been a veritable swear-fest.

After proving his worth holding up flimsy little pieces of trim, matthew was allowed to actually use the chopsaw. By the end of the day, he was chopping like a champ.

We also learned that the way I decided the doors should swing was all bass-ackwards. Uncle Ken really didn't dig it. Something about backing up to have to go into the front door or whatever. It was all planned, basically, so that we can get the big TV into the place when the time comes. Out-opening doors it is! Bring on the big TV!

And so, the doors go in.

The door going over to the Florabana side of the upstairs had a few problems. First of all, when the door is open, it's half blocked by what used to be an outside wall of that half of the barn. Opening it up would have meant removing some structural stuff, and we really didn't feel like moving in and having the whole place collapse after a month. But, the door wouldn't close without cutting off the end of one of the roof beams, that slanted out just a little into the door space. We needed to chop it off, and how best to do that than with matthew's new 8-point saw, gifted from Uncle Ken?

We got out the saw, and since it was brand-spankin new, Uncle Ken had to show us how to oil it. Oiling a saw basically involves squirting some oil on it. He said it didn't matter what kind of oil. Matthew suggested olive oil, since it's all we had on hand. Uncle Ken didn't say no, but went down to his van to fetch saw oil. So, we're not really sure whether it matters or not, but we know that olive oil, at the very least, isn't really kosher for saws.

And then matthew sawed away at the offending beam. And sawed and sawed and sawed and sawed. And boy oh boy, did he saw some more. He sawed so fast, his arms started turning to butter, just like the tigers in little black sambo.

So, we figured I should take over, before his arms turned to butter and we ate them on our pancakes for supper. A few powerful strokes, and I showed that beam who was boss.

Thus ended our day of trimming. We still have to put in the rest of the baseboard and the "chair rail" thing that will help cover the jaggedy parts between the exposed wood wall and the drywall beneath it. Then, there is the horror of the bookshelf and storage area that we will fill the gaping hold in the wall with. The small things, see, that become tedious. That's all we have to look forward to before moving in.

Hooray.

Posted by ribbu at August 28, 2006 01:24 PM

Comments

Posted by: mingy at September 18, 2006 03:15 PM