With the holidays in the rearview mirror, it was time to get back to work on the River House. I used an abrasive cutoff disc in my grinder to remove the heads of ~150 half-inch lag screws. It was not a pleasant task. I had to wear a respirator, protective goggles, and hearing protection for my safety and used the galvanized steel jig below to protect the stairs and floors from the spark generated by the grinding process. It took me about a minute to decapitate each screw which translates to about 2 1/2 hours bent over with a heavy grinder. Jeanine was kind enough to give me a back rub that helped alleviate the pain. I also began to erect the temporary scaffolding that will hold the balusters in place while they are glued to the studs on the floor.