This summer is not really summer. We have had less than a week of good summer weather. Mostly it rains, and today is typical — rain. So the wood that is clean and ready for me to re-mill can't be done as it is leaning against the garage in the rain. I don't cut wet wood... to heavy and messy. So I'll work a bit more on the "roofs" for over the rails.
I have lost (misplaced? I hope) my camera that I bought last year for my trip to Norway. It's a great camera, a Canon. It is preventing me from taking photos of my work. I've got to tear this house apart and find it! I hate being so rushed that I forget where I put things. I had it the day of the Adobe User Group summer picnic, but when I got home and had to unload everything it got lost in the confusion of unloading. Darn!
Friday, July 02, 2010
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Chain of Events
In 2000 I looked out the window of the kitchen and thought, our deck is looking "worn out". We should replace the decking. Then there were a few small leaks in the structure under the decking that is the actual roof to our garage. So I decided I needed to replace that before I could rebuild the deck. So if you haven't guessed already the deck is over the garage with a galvanized metal roof under it to protect the garage contents... so I asked a contractor for a bid to replace the decking with a waterproof decking. It was about $8000, so thinking I could take the boards up and repair the metal for less I dismissed that bid. (would have been done years ago had I gone with that bid!) I called several sheet metal shops and found the price of sheet metal had soared since I put in my system. So I spent a few weeks checking out other sealants and found one for mobil home roofs that was just right. It sealed holes and added a layer of roofing tar with aluminum on top of that. So I ordered it and began the restoration of the existing roof. I hired a nice young man to help me. He was a good worker and it took us about two weeks to get the roof resealed and as good as new. No leaks. Good drainage.
Now it was time to replace the decking. As the joists were 24" o/c I could not use thin 1" boards to span that distance. I was locked into 2" thick wood. So I opted in for cedar again, but bought 6" instead of 4" this time. I liked the look of hidden fasteners and so opted for them on this rendition of our deck. (Besides it was a great opportunity to purchase a biscuit joiner.) So my helper and I used Penofin to treat the wood before installing it. All wood. All sides. After cuts too. We were careful and got 98% of the decking done. I needed to get the edges with the flashing done when summer was over.
2001 summer begins and I do a little work on the flashing and edges, but think that I need to repair the lower deck (off the kitchen door) and the stairs need to be rebuilt connecting the upper deck over the garage to the lower deck off the house. I need to do that before I can flash that area. So begins another demolition... removing an old structure and repairing older rotten wood. Under this deck is a structure of our previously installed but now removed hot tub. So removing this involves "sistering" some 2 x 8 joists and taking out two huge beams that supported the weight of the hot tub. (thank goodness for boyfriends of our daughters...) I got it done with the eager help of Chris. Replaced some deck boards and was good after staining both decks for another summer.
2002 summer arrives and the stairs that lead from the garage to the lower deck are dire need of repair. The stair boards are weakened after 20+ years and needed a rehaul. So I set about replacing the stair supports and treads. This job was difficult. Cutting the 12" wide wood with notches that were square and cut straight was a chore. I had much more respect for the original carpenters. But after two weeks of laying out, cutting... buying a new piece of wood and doing it again. I finally screwed the last tread down and was pleased with the sturdiness of the whole thing. But the posts were looking very poorly. The 6 x 6 solid cedar posts that had been installed in 1979 were cracking, checking, rotting, and needed to be replaced. So while I was rebuilding the stairs I went out to replace the posts... $10/foot for 6 x 6 posts!!! No can do. 32 posts each 4' long. So I opted to wrap 4 x 4's with 1 x 6 cedar for the substantial look of a 6 x 6 post. Our home was built in 1903 and has large posts where they put posts (10" x 8") so 4 x 4's would look out of place with the substantial look of our home. Each post is now costing $4 for treated 4 x 4 center and $6 for the 6' x 6" x 6" wrap. I decide I can cut down some of the old posts that aren't in bad shape and use them for the centers of some of the posts and do that. So as summer draws to an end I have the upper deck without railings now and the posts being built by me.
I haven't mentioned that we own rentals and now it is time for them to interfere with my work around our home... when a tenant moves out and faced with recarpeting I decide to refinish the floors instead of carpeting. We tear out the carpet and find linoleum over the old fir floors. It has ruined the fir flooring so I decide that oak flooring is about the same as having carpet pads, and carpet laid and then having to clean it and replace it in 3-6 years depending upon the tenant. So I order the wood and begin to lay new oak floors in our rental. I buy the unfinished wood, because I don't want the edging that is in the finished floors... it is a small "vee" between each board, a place for grit to get into the wood. I opt to install the flush faced wood and finish it myself. I hire a fellow that owes me money (rent) and he lasts about three days! What a wimp. It is like he has to macho out on everything. I show him how to hit the nailer with the mallet, and he hauls off and smashes the "%&#$" out of the nailer... jamming it. That takes me awhile to fix. He lifts wood with his back not his legs, he carries as much as he can, not a sensible load... I tell him to work smarter. It's about finishing not showing me what he's got. Like I said three days and he's burned out, used up and flat on his back complaining to me that I caused his problems.
Aside: Do you ever wonder about the people that always seem to have bad luck? I used to. I know several. One is this tenant and after three days working together I know why he has bad luck. He doesn't listen to anyone else. He knows best, until he doesn't like the results then he looks around for someone to blame. I have come to the conclusion that these types of people will always get these results until they "man up" and take responsibility for their own actions. Okay, woman up too. I'm not much for the gender specific terms... I use man to mean "human kind". I'm three times his age and I'm making it day in day out. I don't over do like him; I take it easier and I work with my mind and my body. It's just that the old body is wearing down. So I can't rise up when down with the ease I once did. Thus the need of helpers who can grab things, get up and get things, etc. The best helpers come with the attitude that they can learn something... whether they are 17 or 47. I know that I too enter work with that attitude. I can learn how to do something, or leave knowing what I already knew. Life is short...learn all you can when you can. So when it comes to helpers, avoid the braggers. The ones that ask questions and listen to answers are great picks.
2004 summer comes quickly on the heals of 2003 after working on the floors on one side of the duplex, it is decided to refinish the floors on the other side. Our daughter lives there and is in a hurry to get her side looking good and begins the process of removing the carpet, and quarter round molding... but while the floors on her side are not covered with linoleum they are missing wood in areas where huge floor heaters once hung down into the basement. The fir in the floors is old growth fir. Straight grained. So I can't find any here and trek off to Portland to a man who re-mills old wood and buy $300 worth of fir... about 8 sticks... expensive. Get it back here after discussing the face size and the thickness of the wood, find they don't match!!! I should have put my tape on it, but was assured it met my specifications. So I had to re-mill it with my table saw... cutting a 1/16 of an inch off the tongue and recutting the groove for it. Well, it fit then. So I took up about three rows of flooring and wove the new wood in, using a mallet to drive the new wood 8-10' and then letting it all bow until the last piece was in and then pressing down until it eased into place. I am very pleased with how nicely the whole floor looked when done. Thanks to Elizabeth's help on the floor it looks great.
In 2005 with the floors behind me, the deck still in limbo another rental opened up with lots of damage. I was so disheartened... but had an idea to make the unit better than before. I'd take a small room off the master bedroom that had a sink and nothing else and make it a bathroom for the master bedroom. I'd also redesign the kitchen... taking out the 6' sliding door and putting in a 5' French door. That would give me an extra foot for kitchen cabinets. And that is where this blog began originally... I was finishing a years worth of work. I had closed off a doorway in the old bathroom, built out a wall in the master bedroom and then build the new bathroom. I had ripped out the old cabinets in the kitchen and ordered new ones custom built to the space. It came together very nicely too. While it did take a year, it was in part because I do most of the work myself and there are still other obligations that I need to keep. I do hire helpers and with this project I had three. Two hs friends helped demo the bathrooms; and another helper helped paint the entire place. I had the plumbing, wiring, sheetrock, painting and flooring to put into three spaces... so it took time.
Meanwhile back at our deck I'm thinking I want to get into warm glass, that involves a kiln. And that needs a "home". So I think that if I redo our lower deck I can put in a gutter system like over the garage to keep underneath dry and put my kiln under that deck... thus finding a "studio space" in otherwise lost space.
Now you see how my mind works. Slowly turning over things. Not finishing things because the plan is ever evolving and not quite done... so now I am to the point of enclosing under the lower deck for the kiln... the year is 2006 and I am off for the summer to San Diego to attend UCSD for the summer and spend some time thinking about what I want to do with my life and efforts. I want to make my life stand for something. Not just be here.
by 2006 my mother decides that she needs full time help and hires my sister, Pam, an Alaskan caregiver, to come be her caregiver. This affords me the opportunity to see my sister often and to enjoy time with her. I leave the end of June and return in late August. No time for the deck. I return committed to work on building myself a space and getting on with this direction in my work from sandblasting to warm glass fusing and slumping. I apply in late winter to the Pillchuck Glass School and am accepted on a scholarship for the July session. So summer of 2007 I'm off to Pilchuck.
As the summer of 2007 unfolds I am caught working on the lower deck... the deck boards are off and I have jury-rigged a walkway of boards. One must be like a high-wire walker to navigate the entire place. In April I fly to Dayton Beach to adopt a dog, we name him Rusty. He is a pure bred Tibetan Terrier, also known as Dhoki Apso... they are the larger breed that Lhasa Apsos were derived from. I prefer the Tibetan name, so I always refer to him as a Dhoki Apso. He is so forlorn. He's not be socialized and left in his kennel for long periods of time. It takes about three months, but as summer arrives he is coming into his own. His coat is filling out and his personality is showing through. Best of all, he loves Jim, my husband. They go on long walks and Rusty loves to ride in his car with him. While I'm at Pilchuck Jim will care for Rusty alone. He'll do the brushing of his long double coat; feeding; walking; everything. Rusty is a quick study and did well in Doggie School, earning accolades for obedience and learning. He's on his way to being a "wonder dog". But there are times when he seems lonesome. Oh, well. Summer brings my family to Pilchuck for the only open house of the year. It coincided with when I was there. That was nice. So Mom came up and sat and watched lots of activity. She saw glass poured into sand molds; glass being blown; and all manner of finished glass work. She walked with the aid of her four wheeled walker and was wonderful. This was in July of 2007. We didn't know then that in a month she'd die. She was frail, but game for the adventure. When I got home I began staying with Pam and Mom at Mom's house. So needless to say the deck is getting no where fast. At 2:15 AM on August 15, 2007 Mom passes away in her sleep. It is sad, but the outcome was known for months. Now for the next three months Pam and I work on clearing out the house and getting it ready to sell. As fate would have it, it is also the popping of the real estate bubble in the NW real estate market. So we lose several thousand dollars by the timing of putting it on the market. We try to sell it ourselves to save the 10% that we'd lose listing it, but in the end decide that the commission is okay and sell it in two weeks. At a time when nothing is selling. That speaks to the good condition of her place and our good pricing. I decide that I've got to get the deck done in the summer of 2008 as I need a place to put my kiln. And under the deck is where I've decided to put it. So I begin again to research materials for the roofing under the deck.
Summer of 2008 comes with a wonderful surprise. Our good friends Jeff and Susan give us the mahogany that was their deck, as they are replacing their deck. I grab it up to use on our lower deck. They had used hidden fasteners and I plan to do the same. I just need to figure out how to make under it water tight without spending a lot of cash. I decided that a good awning fabric at was weather tight would be a good material. I measure and order what I think I need. It weighs 300 pounds! That's a lot of fabric and more than I needed, but using fabric instead of sheet metal is much less expensive and it is so workable. I begin cutting the fabric and laying it between the joists. I then cover the top of the joists with another layer of fabric that lays inside of the first. This will allow water to run off the deck boards and down the fabric into the trough I create from the fabric between the joists. (I feel that I am on my way to getting a space carved out of unused space.
I mention to my hairdresser that I want help and she offers up her son, Scott. Scott is a great kid. He listens, offers well thought out ideas and is prompt. He is the ideal worker and I'd write him a glowing recommendation any day. He comes to help me work on this deck. We are walking on joist edges, and he is kneeling on them as we attach the fabric and lay the top layer over the joists. Then the salvaged mahogany is routed for use with the hidden deck clips and we are on our way to getting the deck up. Meantime, I have another deck down the whole west side of our home. This deck needs to be demolished to rebuild too. I had purchased Ipe wood in 2006, that I had stored on the upper deck for two years while I waited to begin the deck. I was originally going to use it for the lower deck, but the mahogany helps me out and I have enough Ipe to replace the front porch plywood with Ipe. So I work on the lower deck in 2008 and get ready to rebuild the side deck the next summer.
But before I can rebuild the side deck I want to change from concrete post supports to a foundation. My reasoning is that I can pour a legal foundation and use it for any remodeling we might do in the future. That way I only have to do it once. Have you ever looked for a good concrete worker? They are hard to find, and I didn't find one either. I broke my own rules by paying him before the job site was clean. He left me two days of work... breaking up dumped concrete piles, forms, rebar, I had Scott working cleaning and hired one other person too. The guy was a flake and I'd never recommend him. He talked out of both sides of his mouth. So in the end while I could afford him, he gave me the job I paid for... half assed.
But once the wall was in I rented a concrete drill and placed the 4 x 6 post supports down the newly poured foundation wall. It's a nice clean look. I'm pleased we did it. I get the 4 x 8 beam up and soon the 2 x 8 joists are attached to the ledger and resting on the beam. Now it's time to lay the Ipe. Instead of using the biscuit joiner method, I use a different type of clip and need to pre-drill each piece before nailing to it.
Now the chain of events is set. You have seen that the job of rebuilding our three deck areas took a lot of planning and several years. Now I am embarking upon the final stage. I am working this summer to get the railings done. Yep, it's a long time in coming, but I'm to the finishing stage. I have re-milled the 2 x 4 cedar into balusters for the railings. I have cut down the 2 x 6's for the cross supports for the balusters and am gluing up cedar boards for the roof.
Well, I generally try to think about my work before I do it. I decided to glue two full sized board together, then when dry I'd rip off half of one of them, to get the right dimension. Well, this idea was half baked. I did one set (each pitch of the roof). But when thinking how I'd cut off the part that was too long I decided that it would not work well. So I set up my saw to rip the 1 x 6 roofing cedar in half length-wise and was pleased with the results. I cut a 45° angle down the middle of the bisected wood; and put a bevel on the outside edge of the full size 1 x 6 that way the rough edge of the wood was left as the edge of my roof. (The beveled edges gives more surface for gluing and helps the seam be more likely to not warp, as there is overlap.)
So you're caught up with my chain of events leading to where I am now. I am working to finish railings with an Asian feel by August 7, when we host a large deck party.
Now it was time to replace the decking. As the joists were 24" o/c I could not use thin 1" boards to span that distance. I was locked into 2" thick wood. So I opted in for cedar again, but bought 6" instead of 4" this time. I liked the look of hidden fasteners and so opted for them on this rendition of our deck. (Besides it was a great opportunity to purchase a biscuit joiner.) So my helper and I used Penofin to treat the wood before installing it. All wood. All sides. After cuts too. We were careful and got 98% of the decking done. I needed to get the edges with the flashing done when summer was over.
2001 summer begins and I do a little work on the flashing and edges, but think that I need to repair the lower deck (off the kitchen door) and the stairs need to be rebuilt connecting the upper deck over the garage to the lower deck off the house. I need to do that before I can flash that area. So begins another demolition... removing an old structure and repairing older rotten wood. Under this deck is a structure of our previously installed but now removed hot tub. So removing this involves "sistering" some 2 x 8 joists and taking out two huge beams that supported the weight of the hot tub. (thank goodness for boyfriends of our daughters...) I got it done with the eager help of Chris. Replaced some deck boards and was good after staining both decks for another summer.
2002 summer arrives and the stairs that lead from the garage to the lower deck are dire need of repair. The stair boards are weakened after 20+ years and needed a rehaul. So I set about replacing the stair supports and treads. This job was difficult. Cutting the 12" wide wood with notches that were square and cut straight was a chore. I had much more respect for the original carpenters. But after two weeks of laying out, cutting... buying a new piece of wood and doing it again. I finally screwed the last tread down and was pleased with the sturdiness of the whole thing. But the posts were looking very poorly. The 6 x 6 solid cedar posts that had been installed in 1979 were cracking, checking, rotting, and needed to be replaced. So while I was rebuilding the stairs I went out to replace the posts... $10/foot for 6 x 6 posts!!! No can do. 32 posts each 4' long. So I opted to wrap 4 x 4's with 1 x 6 cedar for the substantial look of a 6 x 6 post. Our home was built in 1903 and has large posts where they put posts (10" x 8") so 4 x 4's would look out of place with the substantial look of our home. Each post is now costing $4 for treated 4 x 4 center and $6 for the 6' x 6" x 6" wrap. I decide I can cut down some of the old posts that aren't in bad shape and use them for the centers of some of the posts and do that. So as summer draws to an end I have the upper deck without railings now and the posts being built by me.
I haven't mentioned that we own rentals and now it is time for them to interfere with my work around our home... when a tenant moves out and faced with recarpeting I decide to refinish the floors instead of carpeting. We tear out the carpet and find linoleum over the old fir floors. It has ruined the fir flooring so I decide that oak flooring is about the same as having carpet pads, and carpet laid and then having to clean it and replace it in 3-6 years depending upon the tenant. So I order the wood and begin to lay new oak floors in our rental. I buy the unfinished wood, because I don't want the edging that is in the finished floors... it is a small "vee" between each board, a place for grit to get into the wood. I opt to install the flush faced wood and finish it myself. I hire a fellow that owes me money (rent) and he lasts about three days! What a wimp. It is like he has to macho out on everything. I show him how to hit the nailer with the mallet, and he hauls off and smashes the "%&#$" out of the nailer... jamming it. That takes me awhile to fix. He lifts wood with his back not his legs, he carries as much as he can, not a sensible load... I tell him to work smarter. It's about finishing not showing me what he's got. Like I said three days and he's burned out, used up and flat on his back complaining to me that I caused his problems.
Aside: Do you ever wonder about the people that always seem to have bad luck? I used to. I know several. One is this tenant and after three days working together I know why he has bad luck. He doesn't listen to anyone else. He knows best, until he doesn't like the results then he looks around for someone to blame. I have come to the conclusion that these types of people will always get these results until they "man up" and take responsibility for their own actions. Okay, woman up too. I'm not much for the gender specific terms... I use man to mean "human kind". I'm three times his age and I'm making it day in day out. I don't over do like him; I take it easier and I work with my mind and my body. It's just that the old body is wearing down. So I can't rise up when down with the ease I once did. Thus the need of helpers who can grab things, get up and get things, etc. The best helpers come with the attitude that they can learn something... whether they are 17 or 47. I know that I too enter work with that attitude. I can learn how to do something, or leave knowing what I already knew. Life is short...learn all you can when you can. So when it comes to helpers, avoid the braggers. The ones that ask questions and listen to answers are great picks.
2004 summer comes quickly on the heals of 2003 after working on the floors on one side of the duplex, it is decided to refinish the floors on the other side. Our daughter lives there and is in a hurry to get her side looking good and begins the process of removing the carpet, and quarter round molding... but while the floors on her side are not covered with linoleum they are missing wood in areas where huge floor heaters once hung down into the basement. The fir in the floors is old growth fir. Straight grained. So I can't find any here and trek off to Portland to a man who re-mills old wood and buy $300 worth of fir... about 8 sticks... expensive. Get it back here after discussing the face size and the thickness of the wood, find they don't match!!! I should have put my tape on it, but was assured it met my specifications. So I had to re-mill it with my table saw... cutting a 1/16 of an inch off the tongue and recutting the groove for it. Well, it fit then. So I took up about three rows of flooring and wove the new wood in, using a mallet to drive the new wood 8-10' and then letting it all bow until the last piece was in and then pressing down until it eased into place. I am very pleased with how nicely the whole floor looked when done. Thanks to Elizabeth's help on the floor it looks great.
In 2005 with the floors behind me, the deck still in limbo another rental opened up with lots of damage. I was so disheartened... but had an idea to make the unit better than before. I'd take a small room off the master bedroom that had a sink and nothing else and make it a bathroom for the master bedroom. I'd also redesign the kitchen... taking out the 6' sliding door and putting in a 5' French door. That would give me an extra foot for kitchen cabinets. And that is where this blog began originally... I was finishing a years worth of work. I had closed off a doorway in the old bathroom, built out a wall in the master bedroom and then build the new bathroom. I had ripped out the old cabinets in the kitchen and ordered new ones custom built to the space. It came together very nicely too. While it did take a year, it was in part because I do most of the work myself and there are still other obligations that I need to keep. I do hire helpers and with this project I had three. Two hs friends helped demo the bathrooms; and another helper helped paint the entire place. I had the plumbing, wiring, sheetrock, painting and flooring to put into three spaces... so it took time.
Meanwhile back at our deck I'm thinking I want to get into warm glass, that involves a kiln. And that needs a "home". So I think that if I redo our lower deck I can put in a gutter system like over the garage to keep underneath dry and put my kiln under that deck... thus finding a "studio space" in otherwise lost space.
Now you see how my mind works. Slowly turning over things. Not finishing things because the plan is ever evolving and not quite done... so now I am to the point of enclosing under the lower deck for the kiln... the year is 2006 and I am off for the summer to San Diego to attend UCSD for the summer and spend some time thinking about what I want to do with my life and efforts. I want to make my life stand for something. Not just be here.
by 2006 my mother decides that she needs full time help and hires my sister, Pam, an Alaskan caregiver, to come be her caregiver. This affords me the opportunity to see my sister often and to enjoy time with her. I leave the end of June and return in late August. No time for the deck. I return committed to work on building myself a space and getting on with this direction in my work from sandblasting to warm glass fusing and slumping. I apply in late winter to the Pillchuck Glass School and am accepted on a scholarship for the July session. So summer of 2007 I'm off to Pilchuck.
As the summer of 2007 unfolds I am caught working on the lower deck... the deck boards are off and I have jury-rigged a walkway of boards. One must be like a high-wire walker to navigate the entire place. In April I fly to Dayton Beach to adopt a dog, we name him Rusty. He is a pure bred Tibetan Terrier, also known as Dhoki Apso... they are the larger breed that Lhasa Apsos were derived from. I prefer the Tibetan name, so I always refer to him as a Dhoki Apso. He is so forlorn. He's not be socialized and left in his kennel for long periods of time. It takes about three months, but as summer arrives he is coming into his own. His coat is filling out and his personality is showing through. Best of all, he loves Jim, my husband. They go on long walks and Rusty loves to ride in his car with him. While I'm at Pilchuck Jim will care for Rusty alone. He'll do the brushing of his long double coat; feeding; walking; everything. Rusty is a quick study and did well in Doggie School, earning accolades for obedience and learning. He's on his way to being a "wonder dog". But there are times when he seems lonesome. Oh, well. Summer brings my family to Pilchuck for the only open house of the year. It coincided with when I was there. That was nice. So Mom came up and sat and watched lots of activity. She saw glass poured into sand molds; glass being blown; and all manner of finished glass work. She walked with the aid of her four wheeled walker and was wonderful. This was in July of 2007. We didn't know then that in a month she'd die. She was frail, but game for the adventure. When I got home I began staying with Pam and Mom at Mom's house. So needless to say the deck is getting no where fast. At 2:15 AM on August 15, 2007 Mom passes away in her sleep. It is sad, but the outcome was known for months. Now for the next three months Pam and I work on clearing out the house and getting it ready to sell. As fate would have it, it is also the popping of the real estate bubble in the NW real estate market. So we lose several thousand dollars by the timing of putting it on the market. We try to sell it ourselves to save the 10% that we'd lose listing it, but in the end decide that the commission is okay and sell it in two weeks. At a time when nothing is selling. That speaks to the good condition of her place and our good pricing. I decide that I've got to get the deck done in the summer of 2008 as I need a place to put my kiln. And under the deck is where I've decided to put it. So I begin again to research materials for the roofing under the deck.
Summer of 2008 comes with a wonderful surprise. Our good friends Jeff and Susan give us the mahogany that was their deck, as they are replacing their deck. I grab it up to use on our lower deck. They had used hidden fasteners and I plan to do the same. I just need to figure out how to make under it water tight without spending a lot of cash. I decided that a good awning fabric at was weather tight would be a good material. I measure and order what I think I need. It weighs 300 pounds! That's a lot of fabric and more than I needed, but using fabric instead of sheet metal is much less expensive and it is so workable. I begin cutting the fabric and laying it between the joists. I then cover the top of the joists with another layer of fabric that lays inside of the first. This will allow water to run off the deck boards and down the fabric into the trough I create from the fabric between the joists. (I feel that I am on my way to getting a space carved out of unused space.
I mention to my hairdresser that I want help and she offers up her son, Scott. Scott is a great kid. He listens, offers well thought out ideas and is prompt. He is the ideal worker and I'd write him a glowing recommendation any day. He comes to help me work on this deck. We are walking on joist edges, and he is kneeling on them as we attach the fabric and lay the top layer over the joists. Then the salvaged mahogany is routed for use with the hidden deck clips and we are on our way to getting the deck up. Meantime, I have another deck down the whole west side of our home. This deck needs to be demolished to rebuild too. I had purchased Ipe wood in 2006, that I had stored on the upper deck for two years while I waited to begin the deck. I was originally going to use it for the lower deck, but the mahogany helps me out and I have enough Ipe to replace the front porch plywood with Ipe. So I work on the lower deck in 2008 and get ready to rebuild the side deck the next summer.
But before I can rebuild the side deck I want to change from concrete post supports to a foundation. My reasoning is that I can pour a legal foundation and use it for any remodeling we might do in the future. That way I only have to do it once. Have you ever looked for a good concrete worker? They are hard to find, and I didn't find one either. I broke my own rules by paying him before the job site was clean. He left me two days of work... breaking up dumped concrete piles, forms, rebar, I had Scott working cleaning and hired one other person too. The guy was a flake and I'd never recommend him. He talked out of both sides of his mouth. So in the end while I could afford him, he gave me the job I paid for... half assed.
But once the wall was in I rented a concrete drill and placed the 4 x 6 post supports down the newly poured foundation wall. It's a nice clean look. I'm pleased we did it. I get the 4 x 8 beam up and soon the 2 x 8 joists are attached to the ledger and resting on the beam. Now it's time to lay the Ipe. Instead of using the biscuit joiner method, I use a different type of clip and need to pre-drill each piece before nailing to it.
Now the chain of events is set. You have seen that the job of rebuilding our three deck areas took a lot of planning and several years. Now I am embarking upon the final stage. I am working this summer to get the railings done. Yep, it's a long time in coming, but I'm to the finishing stage. I have re-milled the 2 x 4 cedar into balusters for the railings. I have cut down the 2 x 6's for the cross supports for the balusters and am gluing up cedar boards for the roof.
Well, I generally try to think about my work before I do it. I decided to glue two full sized board together, then when dry I'd rip off half of one of them, to get the right dimension. Well, this idea was half baked. I did one set (each pitch of the roof). But when thinking how I'd cut off the part that was too long I decided that it would not work well. So I set up my saw to rip the 1 x 6 roofing cedar in half length-wise and was pleased with the results. I cut a 45° angle down the middle of the bisected wood; and put a bevel on the outside edge of the full size 1 x 6 that way the rough edge of the wood was left as the edge of my roof. (The beveled edges gives more surface for gluing and helps the seam be more likely to not warp, as there is overlap.)
So you're caught up with my chain of events leading to where I am now. I am working to finish railings with an Asian feel by August 7, when we host a large deck party.
Time...
tic, tock, tick, tock, tic...
the clock never stops moving. Seconds pass, then minutes, days, weeks, months, years... fleeting. I began this blog in the summer of '06 it is now '10. Where did the time go? It doesn't feel like like I've been absent from this post for four years! Yet, I have. I have projects that are still not completed, and new ones that are begun. I think I'll change the title of this blog and take up where I left off... as what I said in '06 is as valid as if I wrote it today. I still feel the same way about things... so I'll see how this goes. Are you ready? I am.
Monday, June 05, 2006
Squid
In preparation for my summer of self discovery I am still trying to tie up loose ends. It is very hard to finish up with some projects. They keep growing.
When I lived on Okinawa ('60-'63) I was a teenager. I would go to the village and shop and hang out. One day I saw a bunch of kids enjoying some treat. I wondered what it was, but the language barrier prevented the exchange of information, so I was given a piece of an orange strip. It resembled an orange petis (gummy bear type candy). Everyone watched me with much anticipation of my reaction. I took the obligatory bite and began to chew. It was dried squid! My saliva mixed with the dried fish and it became larger. The more I chewed the large it got.
From that time to this I call projects that seem to look "tasty" or sweet, but turn into something like "gum on your shoe" as SQUID. The project gets larger and larger, is not fun or even profitable. It looked okay before you began and now it consumes your time and energy.
Well, my "loose ends" have turned to squid. I had hoped to finish up several projects by the middle of May. Then I moved the goal to the beginning of June. Now I only hope to be finished in time to leave for LaJolla on June 23!
When I lived on Okinawa ('60-'63) I was a teenager. I would go to the village and shop and hang out. One day I saw a bunch of kids enjoying some treat. I wondered what it was, but the language barrier prevented the exchange of information, so I was given a piece of an orange strip. It resembled an orange petis (gummy bear type candy). Everyone watched me with much anticipation of my reaction. I took the obligatory bite and began to chew. It was dried squid! My saliva mixed with the dried fish and it became larger. The more I chewed the large it got.
From that time to this I call projects that seem to look "tasty" or sweet, but turn into something like "gum on your shoe" as SQUID. The project gets larger and larger, is not fun or even profitable. It looked okay before you began and now it consumes your time and energy.
Well, my "loose ends" have turned to squid. I had hoped to finish up several projects by the middle of May. Then I moved the goal to the beginning of June. Now I only hope to be finished in time to leave for LaJolla on June 23!
Tuesday, May 30, 2006
Summer in the Sun
Okay, this is the summer of my contentment. I am focusing on me. If you don't know me you may think, "what's the big deal"? I guess I'd have to say that most of my 36 years of marriage have focused on my family. In the beginning my husband, Jim, and I were alone for five years and did lots of fun things, but when our daughters came along I believed that being there for them was more important than anything else I could do. I still think it is a paramount goal, with the exception: that you need to take more time for yourself so you can replenish your creative and inner spirit to be able to give back more.
I think that I was not so much virtuous, as ignorant. My mother was a very selfless woman and role-model. She sacrificed for us. I think now that it was a generous but not necessarily healthy attitude. To this day she has a hard time just being frivolous. If I could help her in any one thing it would be to worry less and just enjoy -— whatever it is. Her example was/is a model worth emulating. Many young people would do well to take a page from her book. She is not given to spending money unnecessarily and so has money when she needs it.
I grew up in a home that prized taking care of one's possessions. There is no need to replace something if it is working and if it is working take care of it to keep it working. Improve it with maintainence. Paint it. Shine it. Upgrade it. and eventually replace it, but by and large the need is only created after much delay of the aging process. I have had repair people tell me to just get a new one, the parts and labor cost more than a new "whatever". It is true, too. But the old one is made of metal. It has lasted two decades and with repair will last two more. The new one is plastic. Is designed to be replaced in five years. So when our daughters were born we had a couple of sayings: "If it's not yours leave it alone." "If it is yours take care of it."
If only nations would live by these simple platitudes.
Okay, so back to summer. This summer I am going to San Diego. I am going to focus on ME. I am going to swim, exercise, sketch, kayak, design webpages and explore CSS. I am going to meet new friends, visit new places, miss my husband and family and NOT do any dishes for 9 weeks! I am going to get up early (6am), my usual time was 9am and get moving. I am going to put effort into being what and who I feel I am on the inside. As an artist it is hard to express myself when I am always interrupted by things that need to be done. There's family, friends, and work. I'm not saying that these are always an interruption to my life, but it seems that until this summer I have only had rare occasions of time in lots of two or three days. But now I am going to think about what I want to accomplish when I get home in August.
My friend Irene has warned me to wear a good sunscreen, so I am using a physical barrier, not a chemical one. I just ordered Ti-Silc, which she recommended. When I get home I hope not to be much darker than I am now. When I lived on Okinawa in the 60's I was as brown as a coconut husk. Now I have spots on my skin and rosacea (which some say happens because of excess sun when you're young). So if you're young, cover up and save your skin.
Because I am going to be close to the beach I hope to try my hand at sand sculpting. I'll try to post here some of my efforts.
But for now I am finishing up at the rental. I am doing the laminate; new doors, built a new bathroom off the master bedroom and now hope to find a nice tenant.
You can see that I have closed off the old pocket door to the vanity area off the master suite. This vanity area is now a 3/4 bath with a glass shower stall.
I built the new 3/4 bath using the vanity area and three feet of the master bedroom about 6 feet long. I'm sure the extra toilet and shower are worth the 18sf. as the bedroom is about 180sf, so it's only 10%... a fair trade off.
The kitchen had very inferior cabinets in it. They were literally falling off the walls. They were installed by the builder in the 1970's and were not much better than cardboard. The cabinets we've installed are quite nice oak hardwood. I had to take out the 6' sliding glass doors and put in a 5' pair of French doors to gain a foot so I could add more cupboards. In essence I doubled the space. Here is a working image of what was (after the cabinets were torn out) and the new added ones.
I used laminate that is dark: black, brown, tan with some white. It is a faux granite. I put an oak trim on the edge to match the cabinets. The dishwasher which will go where the vacuum is will have a skin to match the cupboards, too. I put the laminate up under the cupboards to make cleaning easier and to give a uniform look.
With this said, the work is almost done. The preparation for my summer is beginning. Finishing existing work is the first priority. Now to find a couple of boxes to pack linens and study stuff in. I will ship it ahead of my departure.
This ends my first web log of the Summer of '06.
I think that I was not so much virtuous, as ignorant. My mother was a very selfless woman and role-model. She sacrificed for us. I think now that it was a generous but not necessarily healthy attitude. To this day she has a hard time just being frivolous. If I could help her in any one thing it would be to worry less and just enjoy -— whatever it is. Her example was/is a model worth emulating. Many young people would do well to take a page from her book. She is not given to spending money unnecessarily and so has money when she needs it.
I grew up in a home that prized taking care of one's possessions. There is no need to replace something if it is working and if it is working take care of it to keep it working. Improve it with maintainence. Paint it. Shine it. Upgrade it. and eventually replace it, but by and large the need is only created after much delay of the aging process. I have had repair people tell me to just get a new one, the parts and labor cost more than a new "whatever". It is true, too. But the old one is made of metal. It has lasted two decades and with repair will last two more. The new one is plastic. Is designed to be replaced in five years. So when our daughters were born we had a couple of sayings: "If it's not yours leave it alone." "If it is yours take care of it."
If only nations would live by these simple platitudes.
Okay, so back to summer. This summer I am going to San Diego. I am going to focus on ME. I am going to swim, exercise, sketch, kayak, design webpages and explore CSS. I am going to meet new friends, visit new places, miss my husband and family and NOT do any dishes for 9 weeks! I am going to get up early (6am), my usual time was 9am and get moving. I am going to put effort into being what and who I feel I am on the inside. As an artist it is hard to express myself when I am always interrupted by things that need to be done. There's family, friends, and work. I'm not saying that these are always an interruption to my life, but it seems that until this summer I have only had rare occasions of time in lots of two or three days. But now I am going to think about what I want to accomplish when I get home in August.
My friend Irene has warned me to wear a good sunscreen, so I am using a physical barrier, not a chemical one. I just ordered Ti-Silc, which she recommended. When I get home I hope not to be much darker than I am now. When I lived on Okinawa in the 60's I was as brown as a coconut husk. Now I have spots on my skin and rosacea (which some say happens because of excess sun when you're young). So if you're young, cover up and save your skin.
Because I am going to be close to the beach I hope to try my hand at sand sculpting. I'll try to post here some of my efforts.
But for now I am finishing up at the rental. I am doing the laminate; new doors, built a new bathroom off the master bedroom and now hope to find a nice tenant.
You can see that I have closed off the old pocket door to the vanity area off the master suite. This vanity area is now a 3/4 bath with a glass shower stall.
I built the new 3/4 bath using the vanity area and three feet of the master bedroom about 6 feet long. I'm sure the extra toilet and shower are worth the 18sf. as the bedroom is about 180sf, so it's only 10%... a fair trade off.
The kitchen had very inferior cabinets in it. They were literally falling off the walls. They were installed by the builder in the 1970's and were not much better than cardboard. The cabinets we've installed are quite nice oak hardwood. I had to take out the 6' sliding glass doors and put in a 5' pair of French doors to gain a foot so I could add more cupboards. In essence I doubled the space. Here is a working image of what was (after the cabinets were torn out) and the new added ones.
I used laminate that is dark: black, brown, tan with some white. It is a faux granite. I put an oak trim on the edge to match the cabinets. The dishwasher which will go where the vacuum is will have a skin to match the cupboards, too. I put the laminate up under the cupboards to make cleaning easier and to give a uniform look.
With this said, the work is almost done. The preparation for my summer is beginning. Finishing existing work is the first priority. Now to find a couple of boxes to pack linens and study stuff in. I will ship it ahead of my departure.
This ends my first web log of the Summer of '06.
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Yet another link in the chain of events
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Okay, this is the summer of my contentment. I am focusing on me. If you don't know me you may think, "what's the big deal"...
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Today I worked pushing a heavy ball up hill. The "ball" was cleaning my basement carpet, which got wet when the washtub the washin...
