What long weekend?

Was there a weekend just now?

I think we might have missed it. Oh, no, wait. I remember now! It was those three days we spent downstairs in the basement instead of going to work!

Apparently, we had quite a windstorm, too. Though of course, I wouldn't know. I was in the basement. Working...

So, with the framing inspection behind us, I was at something of a loss as to where to turn my attention next. Fortunately, the War Department stepped in and reminded me that we needed to have the subfloor installed before the electricians came.

Oh, joy! More Tapcons! Gee golly, swell!

Oh, speaking of electricians, we had our friend Danny come by to give us an estimate (a little higher than we were expecting, but then it turned out he was including all of the materials like pot lights, bathroom ventilation fans, and heaters, which was something of a relief) and then he surprised us by informing us that they'd be starting Wednesday. Yes, tomorrow.

And us without a floor!

So, we spent the weekend buying rigid foam insulation, plywood, Tapcons (damn it), and all the other things we needed to get started on the floor. And... well, that's about all we did. Get started.



It's turning out to be a right stubborn bitch of a job, this subfloor thing. I mean, I knew I was in for a real treat when I bought a BIG box of Tapcons, but getting the somewhat-warped pieces of plywood to fit on a bumpy floor is a real trick. We did a little more tonight (than what's shown in the picture above), but we're still not even halfway done, and we just don't have the energy or time to do any more. So the electricians are just going to have to be careful not to destroy our foam as they stomp around installing stuff tomorrow.

On the bright side, Amy did a whole shwack of electrical work over the weekend (saving us a fair chunk of change by not having to pay the electricians to do it), and I learned new and interesting ways to swear at ductwork.

I started by installing the heating duct down the wall beside the closet:



Here's a close up of the top of the run:



But it was when I went to install the cold air return that things got really interesting:



Cutting the hole in the side of the existing cold air return was the easy part (and not only because the jigsaw blade wasn't going to fall into any fans if it broke off again - which it did). The real fun began when I started trying to put the new duct line together and realized that I had NO IDEA WHAT I WAS DOING.

Amazingly enough, the Intartubez were remarkably unhelpful in terms of providing any idea of how to go about attaching one piece of ductwork to another. Fortunately, I has a brain - despite what some people may claim - and I eventually managed to figure it out, and even turned in a fairly passable joint. (Even if it was AFTER I completely munged one piece of duct and came pretty close to messing up another one.)



Here's the back side, where the new cold air return goes into the existing one:



Of the three new joints visible in that picture, please ignore two of them. Thank you.

Anyway, I'm going to bed. The War Department will be working from home tomorrow to supervise the electricians and keep the cats from getting TOO freaked out, but I have to go in to the office and live vicariously through the frequent email updates.

Murky buckets and bonnie sewer, as my dad always says.