Rebuilding the Third Bedroom: Day One

One day of work on the reconstruction of the third bedroom is complete.  In a few days, it will rise, phoenix-like, from the rubble of its former self.  Today was kind of messy and insane, but I'll sleep a little better tonight knowing that attic floor is fully supported and won't come crashing down on our unsuspecting guests.  

Today Ray and my dad (with regular assists from Mom and me) sistered all the torn-up attic joists and supported them with new studs.  First we put up a T-post to support the joists temporarily, then we set our new 2 x 6 joists.  This shot shows the first sistered joist going in:

Here's a little more progress:

And here's my feels-guilty-just-standing-here-while-Dad-does-all-the-work selfie:

Now all the joists are sistered and secure and they're all perfectly level for drywall install.  It wasn't an easy job, partially because the old fir joists and studs are incredibly hard, and whoever did this the first time left behind about 67 bent nails in every board we had to remove to make our fixes.  I took the following photo of some of my favorite bent nails and nail-filled bits of fir:

Yes, that is a piece of wood with seven bent nails in it.  And I LOVE the nail in the center of the photo-- I have no idea exactly how you make a nail turn at a right angle and then loop around into a hook, but evidently it's possible.  So... that's what's been holding up my attic since the 60's.  SO lucky it never fell in.  And so grateful my parents are here to help us do all the stuff we could never, ever, ever do ourselves.  We're learning everything we can and filing away lots of knowledge for future renovations.  Kitchen, I'm looking at you.

On deck for tomorrow: prepping the walls for drywall, moving some wiring, insulating the ceiling, etc.  I can't wait for this space to start looking like an actual bedroom!