Hey everyone!
Guess what? I finished those
bookshelves for the library! Well, maybe
not finished, but the only thing left to do to them is install support. I’m very thankful for all the help from my
handyman, Chuck. I’m also so very
thankful that his leukemia is gone and that he is feeling much better.
We
started the day bright and early on Saturday, August 1st. My friend, Isaac, and Chuck bought all the
wood and screws we would need and brought them back to their house. We unloaded the truck and got straight to
work. First, we discussed possible
dimensions and measurements for the shelves.
Chuck broke out a yardstick and a pencil and marked the proper lengths
on the wooden boards. Once they were all
marked, we carried each board one by one to the cutting table and sawed off the
excess wood. It was my first time using
a power tool, so it was a little intimidating.
However, Chuck talked me through the whole process and I grew a little
more confident with each cut. He even
let me handle the saw by myself for a while.
Thankfully, I didn’t lose any of my fingers in the process! After we finished all of our cuts, we moved
our wood to the deck and began piecing the parts together. Chuck showed us what to do as he built the
skeleton of the first bookshelf. Board
by board, the structure came together.
He used brackets and screws to attach the shelves and nails to attach
the backing. Within a couple hours, the
first bookshelf was finished. The second
one would be all up to Isaac and me to build.
We spent the rest of the day trying to construct a bookshelf of as
beautiful as the first one. By sunset,
our second bookshelf was finally completed!
Fortunately, it looked identical to the first one! There wasn’t enough light to install support,
so we saved that for another day during the week.
A
week later, I went back to Isaac’s house to finish the shelves. We used the extra wood from the first day to
create dividers. We figured out how to
tier the dividers to create the most support.
Once we agreed on those, I kept them steady while Isaac drilled them
into place. It took another whole day to
complete the support, but the effort was definitely worth it. Now, the biggest
and most difficult portion of my project is complete! This week, I painted my rolling library
crates. The only thing left to do on the
agenda is buy the rest of the fish supplies, set up, and host the grand opening
party. Only two more weeks to go!
