I attached the sill plates to the I-beams with self-tapping screws and steel-piercing nails fired from a special gun. Neighbours swore I'd started my own militia, the noise was so furious. One, Tim, even dropped by to see what the Hell was going on up here.

"Oh nothing" I said, and then: "Wanna check out this gun that fires nails?"

"Whoa yeah!" he said, eyes agog, as he cradled it in his hands.

I wondered if I had made a mistake.

I chose to use I-joists, a manufactured wood product with amazing span capacities, for the floor. Not exactly a time-saver, but for one guy working alone a manageable chunk of wood even at twenty-four feet in length. For the Entry I cantilevered solid joists out over the steel, and for the kitchen bay I did the same.

I put down 3/4" tongue-and-groove ply for the subfloor and "glued 'n screwed" it as we say, only I didn't use screws, but nails. Lots of nails. California-seismic-code nailing schedule, to be exact. Force of habit.

The first wall is always the most romantic. After that, taking photographs is a bit of a bore. This wall measures twenty-four feet and weighed in at an ungodly amount. I called down to Tim for help; he and his old man showed up more than ready to aid me.

With little more than a couple of herniated discs we raised the wall and I nailed it off with a vengeance.

The rest of the walls I raised myself.

The old man's hair, by the way, was perfect.

With all the exterior walls built and the necessary interior walls in place I rolled out the ceiling joists, which also function as the second floor joists. I used the I-joists again and "screwed 'n glued" as mentioned before. I only partially sheathed the first floor walls because the second course of sheathing overlaps the second floor, securing it to the structure.