Working on Floor Joists

Burt explained that the attic floor joists weren't quite what one might have expected them to be. They were only 2x4s, and sometimes they didn't even meet the walls. In places, one would butt against another with only a modicum of wood and nails holding them together.

It's amazing nobody has ever fallen thru, he said.

He talked about how he gave the boys a few pointers about sheer forces and doing joists the right way and gave them instructions to go up there and fix them.

With saws and screwdrivers and hammers and nails and screws, I imagine he sent them up the steps, leaving it to them to cut the lumber and make the pieces fit. Leaving it to them, but I'm sure not leaving them alone. Leaving it to them to wrestle with the details. And maybe offering a few comments periodically.

Ben was up there driving screws and having a heck of a time. The electric screwdriver kept popping off of the screws. Burt said you could see the frustration in his face. I could imagine it easily from his description. I can see the scowl — the turned down eyebrows and puffy lips, the non-interest in conversation.

You want to know why it's doing that? Burt said he asked Ben. And he showed him how to hold the screwdriver so that the problem went away.

I never learned those lessons when we were young. Burt did. He has more than a little of our grandfather in him. And now he is the teacher.

I think I'll jot down a few home improvement tasks for when Ben returns from this vacation!

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