Staging Fascia & "Backdrop"

I made my way down to the basement again tonight. But what to do? That question has stopped many an-otherwise-potentially-productive evening: there's always SO many different things you *could* do, you sometimes fail to do anything. But I've been trying lately to "do at least a little bit" each time I go downstairs, no matter how little that bit is.

Tonight I decided to deal with the ends of the joists, which I've run into more times than I care to recount (and have the bruises as evidence). Here's how things looked when I started ...

Notice the joist-ends: a real hazard, as it turns out. The solution? Fascia!

I had a couple 8"x8' strips of 1/8" Masonite left over/scrapped from my last layout that worked out perfectly. I trimmed the ends of the joists with my small (and easier to wield) saber saw, and attached the Masonite to the ends of the joists with one screw per joist. I would typically use more, and add some bracing, but since this area is "just staging" I decided to experiment. So far, the fascia seems rigid enough - even with just one screw in the end of the 1x3. 

The fascia really dresses up the edge of the layout, but more importantly, it's much safer. 

While I was doing all this, I got a little annoyed that I kept having to move a couple large (2x8') pieces of foam board out of my way - so I decided to prop them up behind staging. Voila! Instant "backdrop!" At least for now...

I'm really enjoying seeing how all my little bits of time are adding up. More than a couple of folks have remarked how much progress I'm making, despite it being my busiest time of year at work. But like so many of you, I've had to confront the reality that large blocks of time are rare as hen's teeth and if I ever hope to get this layout done, I need to keep chipping away at it. Bit by little bit...

Hopefully you're able to chip away a little bit at your project this weekend!