In hospitals, it’s called triaging. Deciding what is the most urgent need, and addressing it first. That’s what I’m presented with now, taking a long look at my truck and figuring out what needs to be addressed next.
I have enough studs to fully frame the walls of the living space, including the cabover portion. But. Due to the weight of the sheathing, I am going to need to attach it to the studs prior to lifting them into place. On my first build, I learned the hard way that I’m not strong enough to handle full-size plywood panels myself, and ended up cutting them into much smaller pieces in order to hang them. I don’t want to do that again. The only way around that is by screwing them into place onto the studs while they are still laying flat on the truck bed. I can leverage the heavy walls sections up and into position myself, and brace them while I work on the next section.
I don’t have the sheathing yet, though. It’s expensive. Plus, there’s a more pressing need that has to be addressed first ~ the fuel tank inlets. They must be rerouted from the bed to the new sides, and it’s an expensive process. Unbelievably expensive, in fact, as in $400. So, I have to wait. I do have the appointment made for next month so I can reassure myself that progress will be made as soon as possible.
Why don’t I at least build the wall frames while I wait? Because once again, the weight issues mean I need to build them on the flat of the bed of the truck, so I can lift them into place. I can’t simply do it on the ground. There’s also the issue of access to the fuel inlets where they currently reside, which would be inaccessible if I had a pile of wood framing laying in the way.
So, I will wait. Bored, frustrated and scared by the time this is taking, but I will wait.
Hope your week goes swimmingly 🙂