July 14th - Upper floor and internal wall

Just Mal with me on site today, and Jack for the morning. Worked together on the laying of the remainder of the upper floor until I suggested that we should work in tandem on the long central wall. Measured up and sent Jack off to the big saw to cut studs. Dropped him home when he'd finished and headed back to site. I'd forgotten the food-box in the morning, meaning no "smoko" (tea-break), so lunch was a little longer and fondly embraced than usual!
One benefit of doing a self-build with mongrel pals is the number of unexpected skills you pick up. On this project, the main one is swearing. As an Aussie, Mal is world-class by birthright. Even his every-day non-profane chat is top-motch. "I say, old chap, do you think you might turn the generator on when you get a moment" becomes "Oi Jack, kick the genny in the guts, mate!". Bent timbers are "honeymooners" and less-than-perfect work (not that there has been much!!) is "good enough for a bush-job". Melvin has shown a rare linguistic talent, which he delivers in a gruff Calendonian growl and Dave (remember him) is a past-master at innuendo.
For the rest of the afternoon Mal built the wall and I laid the floor, through several rain-showers which threatened to leave the unpainted flooring soaking and ruined. After one particularly heavy squall I brushed all the water off, only for another to arrive five minutes later. I indulged in some colourful language of my own, which helped a bit. Later on the sun came out and dried it all, allowing us to throw assorted painty left-overs down to protect it till the roof's water-proof (see photos). Clocked off at 6pm, with everything ready for roof-truss installation on Monday.

First floor 140707