Day 32

Only a couple of hours work got done today as Lesley's cousin Charlotte was in town from Vancouver, so we spent the afternoon visiting at Kent & Susan's place. Today's task was to install the top plate for that nasty wall. Job one was getting the necessary notches cut out of the board to accommodate the remaining hangers. I used the jigsaw to accomplish the notching, which is not ideal since we're dealing with 2x4s. I actually decided to make a quick run to Canadian tire to get a new blade for thicker wood. Waste of time. The first blade bent and snapped before I got 2 inches cut. Useless piece of crap. So I used the now-dull blade I already had, and drilled holes to facilitate turning the corners, which worked well enough. A little bit of trial and error later, including some deft handiwork with a chisel, and the top plate was installed.

Attaching the top plate

Attached

Once the top plate was on, Lesley's temporary brace could be removed. There are still two more studs to set, which should be easy now that there is a top plate, and this nightmare wall will be more-or-less complete. The next step will be to frame around the main drain stack, and construct the bulkheads that will go around all of the plumbing