Category: Work
Grapes in the Arbor
Woodworking in the Backyard – AKA bucking the trunk
Some Wind
Finished the Roofing the Contractor Missed
November 21, 2015 @ 11:10 amI just added the foam bits that block snow (we had our first snow today) from backing up the metal roofing, where it meets the house – that section has flashing over it – but the contractor hadn’t put the closed cell foam in the spaces under the flashing between the ridges on the metal roofing. Snow would work back inside there, melt, and cause havoc to my house.
Pics showing the foam bits I installed between the flashing and the metal roofing.
This contractor was a friend of a friend. Oh well.
Anyway, now the roofing over the front porch and back sunroom should be secure from the weather – providing the pitch on the front isn’t so low that it water and melting snow standing on the roof don’t work their ways through the screws holding the roof down. Or where the roof panels overlap. Because …
The contractor hadn’t put in any goop, in the seams, like he said he would before he started.
Also, while I was removing the screws holding down the flashing so I could put the foam in, I saw they were too short – and just grabbing the wood 1/8″ or less, or not at all. I used screws of proper length – grabbing the wood for 3/4″ inch.
Also, when contractor was securing beams to house to support roofing, he drilled right through the bedroom walls of the house.
What a lesson this roofing by contractor was. Ouch!!!
Barrel Stave Porch Pillars – Caulked for Painting
October 21, 2015 @ 12:33 pm
Started on the porch, two weeks ago. Initial focus on the original barrel stave porch pillars. Beautiful work.
Put them back together, caulked the seams, plugged and caulked the open holes … after chipping away all the old loose paint and caulking.
The center pillars have gotten two coats of white paint, since these pics were taken. The outer pillars just one. They all need another coat or two – but that’s going to wait until next spring.
Then do the floor. And finish the railings.
Changes …
July 17, 2015 @ 8:39 pmThis week … Honey. The first honey harvest, actually. Kath and Steve worked so hard – but that honey is so delicious. And to think it came from bees in our own yard. Wow. It is delicious. Yeah. I said that. Delicious.
And this week – new roofs on the front porch and back sunroom. Metal roofs this time. Dark green. Lovely. And they shouldn’t leak (the old ones did).
And, as Rob and Donna were here this week, I put Rob to work, of course. And we trimmed and pruned the pond view from the deck on down. Beautiful open view now from the yard and the deck. And we had a bonfire Sat night, down by the pond. Nice.
The pond – it’s thriving – except that 2″ sized pollywogs are dying. Don’t know why. Everything else is ok. No muskrat signs. Both the Tricker’s and Lowe’s water lilies are thriving. Lotta algae. Some leafed plants – haven’t ID’d em yet. And some structured algae like grass. Tons of frogs. Saw the snake a week or so ago. Pair of Green Herons visited briefly, for a couple days.
The yard – And a bothersome coon on the back deck, some nights.
A Brown Picket Fence
June 3, 2015 @ 10:49 amYeah – a brown picket fence. Treated wood. Love it.
Missed the white the first day. Now I’m quite happy with the posts being white, while the fence is natural wood color.
If you blow this pic up, you can see how the old fence was rotting away. Unfortunately, these guys had the really bad side down already – the side missing about 20 pickets. Many rails had rotted to the point we couldn’t put pickets back on them. Some rails were about ready to give in. I couldn’t find the same fencing, or pickets, anywhere. And, the gate hardware had rusted out – gate wouldn’t work any more. The posts though, were fine. So … we reused them.
Iron Fencing
May 23, 2015 @ 12:49 pmAhhhh
December 2, 2014 @ 3:28 pmAhhh – found the other muskrat den – in the NW corner, by the reed hutch, which seems to have been opened up by whatever. I found it by following a stream of water from the pond, which should not have been, into the bank – stuck my cane in, wiggled it about, and lo and behold – there was open space inside my pond bank, above the water level. I’ll get em, said the hopeful trapper. Sooner or later.