Whew!

Have I mentioned how stressed I get when we do "real" construction?  Little worries just pile up in my brain and keep me awake at night.  I try to anticipate every problem so I can prevent it, but most of them never actually happen.  It's not that I have a lack of worries at other times in my life, it's just that they are overly abundant for projects such as removing a wall.

So we set out to install the header today to connect two rooms into one big gameroom.  First we built a false wall just to provide a little support for the long expanse of ceiling joists that would stretch across both rooms. Luckily the ceiling joists were continuous so we only need the supporting wall on one side.  My husband had the wall built and in place by the time I arrived an hour or so later.  He's getting to be a professional at this stuff!

Just picking up the header from Home Depot was a challenge itself.  The header is made from laminated lumber.  One of my many worries was that I would not be able to lift my end - but it turned out to be manageable.  We ordered a 12 foot piece so we could cut it to be a little longer than 10 feet.  We decided to use 4x4 posts as the jack studs which hold up the header.  Luckily we found studs in the wall that were already nicely placed to use as king studs.  Once my husband removed the old wall I was able to fish a new electrical line in the ceiling above the joists.  This is fortunate because there is almost no height in this part of the attic.  We then cut the support posts to the right height and nailed one of them into place.  We used this ladder to help support the header on its way up to its final location.  

It was pretty heavy and we did almost lose control of it once, but my husband ended up catching it, after a heavy bump on the head.  Ouch!  We slid one end over the secured post and used the loose post on the other end, at an angle, to support it while we took a breather.  Finally, in a last push, he hoisted the end completely up to the ceiling and I hammered the last post into place.  Whew.

Here is a shot from either side once we took down the support wall and cleaned up.  It feels so good to get that done.  Now on to the fun part.  Walls next.  Hmmmm, what color should they be?