For the past two days, I have done almost nothing except work on the greenhouse. Progress came at a lightning pace, which fueled my motivation, which produced more progress ... what a great couple of days it was! Let me share with you how much I have done.
When Tuesday morning began, the greenhouse looked like this.
My goal for the day was to try to get the bottom of the south wall framed and sheathed in plywood. This is a long, straight wall, and I made pretty quick work of it ... relatively speaking. When working without a helper (to cut pieces, or holler measurements, or hold the other end of a piece of plywood) the task at hand always takes a little bit more time.
I'm still making really good use of my stash of stock-piled and salvaged materials, though I ran out of 2x4s and plywood on Monday ... and it was necessary to make a trip to Lowe's before work began on Tuesday. This is where having my own truck comes in really, really handy. (If you haven't see last year's post about my truck, click {HERE})
No need to strap down a load like this in MY truck! The plywood and 2x4s fit flat in the bed, AND the tail-gate closed.
Even with the unplanned trip to the store for materials, work went smoothly and progress came swiftly. By lunchtime, this is how the greenhouse looked.
All of the openings below the windows were framed and ready for plywood. The plywood sheathing is an essential stabilizing element in this building. Without it, I would have to do a LOT more diagonal bracing on the inside to keep the building square and plumb and level. It also provides knee-walls to help me hide some of the supplies (like pots and bags of soil, etc.) that tend to accumulate when I'm not paying attention.
At the end of Tuesday, it looked like this.
Wednesday's work was the same as Tuesday's ... with framing openings and installing sheathing, but on the west wall this time. The process starts by measuring the openings, height and width, and using 2x4s to build these little pieces (that look to me like pi).
The vertical studs create the 16" spaces on which most building materials are based ... one sheet of plywood is 48" wide, which equals three stud-spaces. (The openings are 26" high, so I had to cut the plywood cross-wise, or there would have been a ton of waste.)
When the frames are toe-nailed to secure them in place, it looks like this.
Fortunately, that propane tank is still empty, so I could scooch it away from the wall a bit for access. Once the wall is finished, I'll slide it back into place.
This is where things stood as the sun was getting low in the sky on Wednesday.
Three of the four walls now have all their windows, framing, and sheathing. I have begun the process of padding out the corners (beside the window trim and above the plywood) to fabricate the corner trim which will complete the process of closing in the building on those three sides. I have intentionally left the wall with the door till last. If the weather unexpectedly turns REALLY cold, my contingency plan is to wrap that wall in plastic and leave it to finish in the spring.
I don't think there will be time for greenhouse work for the rest of the week. Our Greyhounds Rock "Take a Bite Out of Canine Cancer" benefit is this weekend, and it will take the next two days for us to finish the last few details. I'm always really excited at this stage, as our year's work of preparations come to an end and the event begins. This year, I am especially excited because I get to meet two women that I really admire ... Sheryl Matthys and Victoria Stilwell!! After everything is over, you can guarantee that I will tell you ALL about it.
(If you are visiting from one of the Link Parties and would like to catch up on any of the other posts on the construction of the greenhouse, click the 'Greenhouse Windows' label below.)
This post is linked here:
At The Picket Fence (where the greenhouse is a Feature this week!)