Tuesday, September 06, 2005
It has been a long while since I last posted. Things that I have been working on:
- Front porch. The neighbors decided that it looked bad, and cam over to help. We were able to get permanent posts in place and Margaret re-built the retaining walls that were torn down. They weren't supposed to be torn down - as the posts were designed to go in other areas... Any way, Dad and I framed the porch in, and I have completed decking it. We used some Ipe that we had on hand and a new hidden clip system for Ipe - Tiger Claw. It was very labor intensive - but it is done. We had to fill in around some areas with cement so that we could frame in some steps. I completed the railing system last night using recycled cedar and matching the railing on the other side of the house. We decided to rail just 2 sides that required it per code.. We can complete the rest later if we want to. I wrapped 2 of the posts with recycled cedar. Every see a 6 x 6 post that was 5.5" on 3 sides, but 5.625" on the 4th?
- Margaret's Office. We have installed the flooring that we bought months ago and some Armstrong ceiling planks. Margaret wired all of the outlets and I installed the low voltage stuff this weekend - the wiring worked! We used select pine for all of the trim. Margaret did a nice job getting it to look like cherry. We need to touch up the walls and she can move in!
- Back (lake-side) deck. I have discovered that the original deck was cantilevered from the floor joists and not flashed. This caused them to rot off. The previous owners then cut off the ends of the cantilevered joists and lagged a header in place through the cedar siding...and did not flash it. This, in turn caused the cedar to rot and transfer that rot further into the joists. Therefore, before I side the lake side of the home I must repair this somehow and properly flash it.
- Other status. Rob appears to no longer work for us. He quit coming and we have not asked him back. Completing this project myself is going to be a major task and could take years. We still have leaks in the house - primarily from under the lake-side doors. I think that I have to take them off and re-install them in a water-tight fashion.
