Day 2 and 3 (half days)

On day two we headed over to the build site after I got off work. Ash finished the bracing, and we finished toenailing the porch joists. Toenailing is extremely awkward work, but Ash was on a roll that night and knocked it all out mostly on his own. He swears it was fun, too. Crazy person! Toenailing is when you hammer the nails in at a diagonal angle:

 

 The other way is called, no joke, butt nailing:

 

 Here's what that looked like at the end of that day. We decided to stagger the bracing in between each joist, but you could do them in a straight line too.

 

Day 3 was today... we went to Lowes and bought 6 pieces of 3/4" OSB plywood subfloor. We also got spiral shank nails to keep it down on the ground where it belonds. Then Ash used the circular saw to cut the pieces to size, and we laid them down and nailed them on with one nail every 8 inches.

 

 Luca picked up a hammer and hit the house with it for a little while. That helped.

 

We did not put plywood on the porch. We will put something more weather proof (like cedar) for the parts that will remain in the exterior.