Brace yo'self fool!

Over the last couple of weeks, Mike and my dad and I worked to rebrace the attic stairs. Remember that project? Well today, after adding new stringers to the stairs, we removed the floor jacks. Slowly...sloooowly...and the house creaked for a moment and sat still. Success!

Here's a small sampling of the new support system for the stairs.

New stringers:

Notice that the stairs still aren't level - we'll level out the drywall to make it look square. But this is a huge improvement:

Big bolts and one of the 8 or so 2x4 pieces bracing the stairs from the side:

Proof that the attic door closes completely now:

Next up: finishing the insulation and behind the wall odds and ends. Then we get a whole bunch of drywall. Does anyone deliver?