The Beat Goes On

The big projects for this past week are mostly continuations of projects begun over the last couple of weeks, hence the title of this post.

Garage Addition

Construction continued on the garage addition but ran into a problem: the siding, main door, and back door have not arrived. Bob and his helper did what they could, working on soffits and installing windows and roofing, but by Tuesday afternoon had come to the end of their work for this week. Hopefully the rest of the materials will be in next week so this project can be finished!

Decking

A couple of posts ago I had mentioned I would be replacing some of the decking on the front porch. This work would eliminate some rotting wood and seams where boards were pieced together. Note the decking was installed on the diagonal across the entire porch. Here is the “before” photo:

Here are a couple of “during” and “after” photos:

One of the two worst elements of this job was cutting around the posts, which had been installed after the decking in the original construction. It was time consuming to cut templates to fit around the posts then transfer those to the final boards.

Note that the wood is of a tongue-and-groove style which means the boards interlock with each other. This has advantages but makes the margin for error, when cutting around the posts, much smaller.

The other worst element was removing the screws that held the old flooring in place. I had to use a small screwdriver to dig the paint and crud out of the old screw heads before they could be removed. Add in different types of screws used over the years, Phillips and Torex T-25 drive heads, and removing the screws turned out to be the most time consuming part of the job. It was also hard on the knees.

The original builders had used 8-foot boards and pieced in additional lengths when they put in the decking. I used 10-foot lengths which eliminated the need for any additional pieces. I sure wish this had been done in the original build; it would have eliminated the need for replacement now.

The new wood is very solid and we can really feel the difference between it and the old, and somewhat “spongy” feel, of the original wood. It turned out to be more of a project than I thought it would be but I am glad to have it done.

New Kitten

We took our new kitten to the vet for a check-up and blood tests. It turns out that “Elle” is “Elmo,” a young male. The tests turned out OK. Elmo received a rabies shot and de-wormer and is now running around the house. The other cats don’t know quite what to make of him but there are some indications that KitKat may start playing with him.

F-150 Truck

The truck was out of commission for a few days. I had taken it in to get an exhaust manifold leak fixed but the mechanic ran into a few problems: broken studs, bolts that hold the manifold in place. Four of the eight studs had broken. Two were easy to remove and replace but the front two required some special tools, a left-hand drill bit and compact air drill, to remove. More labor than originally estimated was involved.

The truck was repaired and now sounds better than when we first bought it. Nice to have all the exhaust going out the muffler. However, in the meantime, the RAV-4 had to do duty as a wood hauler for some of the new decking materials.

Other Projects

Pam went through some of our boxes – the second floor storage room/guest bedroom is still full of them – and found and hung up some of our wall art on this and a few other walls.

I installed new latches on the side and back doors. The back door latch was worn out and working only part of the time and the side door did not have a latch at all; we were keeping it closed with an eye hook which proved to be very inconvenient. The doors need a lot more work before winter but that is a project for later this fall.

It was another busy week here at the Heart House. The upcoming week should see the start of a major painting project; we hope to start with the front porch now that the floor is taken care of. Some of the wood removed from the front porch will be re-purposed and installed on the back porch as the current decking there does not match the other two porches.

There are three anniversaries of note this month; my birthday and our 46th wedding anniversary both occur in the first two weeks of August. Pam’s older brother Larry turns 70 next week and Pam made him a special birthday card to mark the occasion. COVID protocols mandate extremely limited “celebrations” of these types of events this year.

Photo Archive

Family and friends are featured in these photos from out past.

That’s it for now. Thanks for looking in!

Pam’s Two Cents

Kittens. I used to have their care down to a science. I still have pens and cat boxes and feeders in abundance. What I do not have in abundance, apparently, is the patience I used to employ in kitten care. Because Elmo is into everything. Everything. Which is why a pen will remain in the living room, and Elmo will be in that pen frequently. (Actually, it’s his “safe place” and he climbs in all by himself to sleep in the hammock.)

Cooler weather, predicted for next week, may allow me to start some plant relocations — hostas, mainly, and probably the peony bush currently situated in an awkward location in the back yard. I have a potted maple growing from seed (a seed which probably blew in from the huge maples across Main Street) and it’s time to plant the maple in the east yard. This house greatly needs trees producing summer shade on the east side; I hope we see some of that shade during our stay at 702.

Happy Trails.