Weekend Project

It all begins with this.  Exciting, no?

There is always prep work to be done before any project.  First we had to split some boards into strips to be used as the frame for the ceiling board to go on.  My job was to help guide these 16 foot boards through the tablesaw.

Even though you can’t tell, I really am helping.

Rick took a picture to prove it.  Too bad I don’t have it to show you.

I like to think of this ceiling installation as a giant puzzle that we are putting together.  First you assemble all the pieces that will be the “frame,” or the outside of the puzzle (those board strips that we did earlier), and put them together.

At least that is how I put a puzzle together.

Side note:  Notice the cool light coming out of the cordless drill?  A must-have for any carpenter… trust me.

These cross boards will become the “puzzle mat” that you lay the pieces on.

With me so far?

Now those puzzle pieces still have to be cut to fit in the frame.

Now the fun begins!  First piece put up.

Isn’t this exciting?

And you keep adding more pieces and locking them into place, hence the puzzle reference.

If you don’t run into too many troubles (which we didn’t), it starts to come together pretty quick.  This much took us about 3 hours or so, but we still had a lot of ceiling to cover.

By the end of day 2, we were 1/2 way done.

Rick likes to sit back and study his handiwork (which is quite awesome, IMO).

Actually, I helped too.  Yep, I even used the nail gun a couple times (cue the Tim the Toolman Taylor grunt).

Kinda gives you a visual feel of what the finished project will look like.

Which will occur next weekend.