A total of 13 2x4s (pressure-treated, of course, since it can get dampish down there), three sheets of 4x8 plywood and innumerable screws have created the floor. To further protect the wood from the ravages of errant water intrusion, the whole assemblage is raised slightly off the existing floor by some lightweight spacers.
It's almost dead-on flat -- the deviation isn't noticeable except to a carpenter's level -- and quite sturdy.
The various objects on the floor, placed there to weight down areas where the spacers were glued to the frame, will of course be moved before the sumptuous final covering is put down. D.'s workbench (one of several) will probably stay where it is.
Next step: framing in the walls and probably applying sealer and paint to the cement walls. Oh, yes, and installing a door. Unless, that is, the final wall section ends up being installed with me inside, in which case we may get into a weird kind of Edgar Allen Poe bag....
Won't be easy to get photos of the finished space. I'll have to play with my photo program's "stitching" feature to show as much as I can.
Once again, I have to give major credit for the speed and quality of the work to D. I'm used to disassembling and rebuilding things other people have made, while she can work wonders with raw lumber. She is also precise, while I tend to hit things with a hammer and saw off ends that stick out. Plans? Not this boy....
PARENTHETICAL WHERE-YOU-ARE-IS-WHERE-YOU-ARE THOUGHT: My abode Where the Ghetto Meets the Sea measured roughly 10x18, which included my desk, four bookcases and a queen-size bed. An 8x12 office, devoted only to writing -- and the odd item or two that won't fit upstairs -- seems like unbelievable luxury.
It's going to be a nice place to work, in a wonderful place to live.
6 comments:
Based on the waterline evidence, I think many tears might be wept over your wood choices, and that D's suggestion is not just practical, but meant to save your heart any more agony! ;-) Excellent progress! And "level" is something for people who don't live in "the promised land"... We who live here are much more familiar with things called SHIMS or blocks of wood placed appropriately so that a surface might not cause our pocket change to roll away...
Ptolemy -- I'm told the water in the cellar has never reached the level of the lime marks...so I'm willing to live dangerously and go with the high-dollar covering. I'm thinking "Oriental rug" on top of it, too!
Just think -- one day D.'s basement might qualify for one of those historical plaques that so many houses around here have...or do I have to change my name to "Tarr" first?
I love the adventure! Keep it coming.
You mean that is not the final floor covering?
This is major league.
JohnO -- I suggested to D. that we could just sand the plywood and seal it...the wood patterns are kinda neat! A perfect use for Santeria Magic Wax, if you know what I mean....
However, it being a working office -- and, of course, a World Headquarters -- means that it has to have Dignity. That's why I'm pushing for some nearly-extinct exotic wood that we would have to smuggle in.
Nice!
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