We spent two days measuring and cutting the joists, nailing in the joist hangers, mixing the concrete to keep the joists off the ground, and finally putting them all in place.
On Friday we spent the morning laying bricks to bring the floor up to meet the walls where there were gaps, nailing the joists into the hangers, and starting to measure and cut the celotex for the floor insulation.
All the floor joists are now measured, cut and put in place, and about a third nailed into the hangers.
The nails were hard to hammer in, so we drilled the holes a little to give them more room to go through, and that made it a little easier. It is still an awful lot of hammering, and we wear ear defenders while we do it.
The pieces of wood in the middle give it more strength and keep it from moving. The celotex will sit in between these rectangles.
Checking the strength of the joists – they definitely hold our weight.
Mixing the mortar – 4 parts sand to 1 part cement by volume, mix thoroughly and then add water.
We decided to cut the half bricks by hand.
Wash the old bricks thoroughly, scrubbing them with a brush, so that the mortar has more surface to stick to.
Using the trowel to put the mortar on the brick.
Laying the bricks, and using the level to check it is more-or-less in a straight line. It doesn’t have to be exact because it is building up to the threshold of the door, which is already in place.
And then it was lunchtime!