Day 34

Dec. 9, 2017
Woke up at 7am
So today was a bit of a test for me. This was the first time I felt overwhelmed since I arrived. While putting on the last few pieces of plywood I noticed that the bases had shifted and my deck was no longer square. The price you pay for building on top of lava rock instead of a normal soil ground I guess. I figured I would have to do some shimming on the front facade to make up the difference. Of course, by the time I had realized this error, Hank comes strolling up the driveway.

After much arguing, we did end up agreeing that shimming was not going to be an option as this would only continue to be a problem all the way up to the roof. So the only solution was to put them back exactly where they were before. So we set off to try and fix the issue. This meant pulling up all the boards I laid yesterday and using a pick, a hammer, and my girth, to move the legs into place. Hank thought he could show me how it is done, but nothing he tried seemed to get the bases moving. After about two hours of trying to convince him that I could get it done on my own, I just all of a sudden screamed like a banshee and ran full speed at the platform. I hit it right on the front corner with all my body weight thrown into it. (Anyone who has ever worked as a carpenter with me is very familiar with the Munky Belly Bounce.) It only needed to move three inches and move those three inches it did! The look on Hanks’ face after trying to move one leg for two hours was priceless. Here I was able to move all three legs with one single blow.

Once the legs were back in place I grabbed some left-over rock and made sure no base will ever move again. This is not something I want to happen ever again. Especially not once I move my family into the home.

Since this took most of the day I only got about one more piece of plywood laid down then I had the day before. But the main reason for that is I decided to make the move to the platform. I am done being on the ground and I want to sleep up high like normal folk. So I spent the second half of the day taking everything down and placing it on top of the relayed subfloor. I hope this works out and I get a good nights sleep for once.