These pictures are of putting in the second floor bar joists. We hired Mike and Richard to do the work. Mike did all the welding and Richard did the cutting, measuring and helped to lift the bar joists into place. The outside temperature was extremely hot and they kept at it. 

Jim hung the brackets that we had Mike make for us. Drilling the concrete walls is a loud, lousy job. We used a long tube filled with water to mark level on the walls. It is a simple homemade tool that worked great. 

After the bar joists were up, Bill started to grind down any raised or rough spots on the joists. I think that I mentioned that we got them second hand so there were a few spots from their past life. This also is a yucky job and it sure makes a mess on the floor below. 

Once an area was smooth and ready we laid ¾ inch plywood down for the subfloor. The boys were a great help with this. They were so excited to start having their space getting done. Getting the self tapping screws through into the metal was an art that you needed just the right speed of the drill to do. After many wasted screws Jim, Bill and Peter figured out the right speed and the job became easier. We all tried our luck on the jig saw getting the custom cuts needed around the edges of the dome. Nathaniel has the hand of an artist with the jig saw. Samuel did most of the cleaning up of the scraps and saw dust. He thought it was fun to sweep it off the edge unto the floor below. 

When all the boards were down and the tools taken back downstairs we made sure that all the dust and dirt was vacuumed up. We were now ready to start to lay the wood flooring!