Tuesday, May 29, 2012

And There Goes the Porch...

Last Friday night it snowed... maybe for one last time before summer sets in. Saturday morning Caren shoveled the front deck... definitely for one last time. By Sunday all of the snow had melted off, and summer had set in.

With the arrival of summer things are about to get busy. Siding has been ordered, the permitting process has begun. Big changes are afoot.


By midday Sunday the front porch looked like this. We had already removed nearly half of it before I remembered to snap a few photos. The porch had seen better days and was pretty much worn out. It didn't really fit into our plans. And, I had concerns about the construction. The ledger board (where the porch ties into the house) was attached to the siding instead of the framing. Somebody had tried to flash it to protect the siding from water damage, but mickey-moused the job. I had a sneaking suspicion that I'd find water damage when I removed the ledger board.


Sure enough I was right... and the carpenter ants liked the moisture to boot. Fortunately the damage is limited to the house rim on one corner. Neighbor Tom says it is an easy fix. And I sprayed the ants...


By Sunday evening all that was left of the porch was the piers. I fashioned a couple of steps out of paving stones that were laying around on the property when we bought the place.


Before we left for the Valley on Monday evening we'd removed all the piers and their accompanying footings. We also created a moveable temporary stoop out of the left over deck boards. When we get to siding the house, we will be able to move the stoop out of the way to complete the work, then replace it until the permits are issued that will allow us to build the front deck.

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