Quick Update

Well the cantilever is fixed. Tobin's crew did it in about two days which was much faster than I thought it would take. The corner looks much better without a supporting 2x.

And many Ibuprofen and 1508 screws later the first deck is complete. Almost. I still need to cut off the ends of the joists to make them all the same length. Unfortunately we had some waviness in the joists. I am not sure if this is due to the quality of the lumber or the angled cut at the end of the joists. But the wood is down and we can now officially call it a deck. Now for the next one...

Cats and Decking

Well we've not gotten as much done as hoped. Our first decking weekend resulted in 14 boards going down before we succumbed to rain. Last weekend was bit more successful and the long deck is now nearly complete. I have been trying to work out the numbers on this and it doesn't look good. I have been averaging 8 lineal feet every 10-12 minutes. At that rate we should be done with the siding sometime next year. We might need some help on this.

I knew I never should have left the camera lying around.

The boards were in long lengths which was good but the longer they were the more like spaghetti. Every board needed to be straightened which was quite time consuming. At least there's only 4 times as much siding as decking. Bad knees + bad back + decking = very bad combination.

We also got the cat door installed which has prevented Anne from throttling Marlum. He now comes and goes as he pleases without the melodic meow that would inevitably arise in the middle of the night. The downside is that he likes to bring his food into the house - and play with it. I don't know how we resolve that one.

We were not sure if Ramona was going to make it through the hole. Proportionally she looks like a tennis ball perched on a basketball. But she manages to suck it in and squeeze herself through.

Come on, suck it in.

Can you believe that cat fit through that door? This is her skinny side.

On a down note, we had been fostering a cat from the SPCA where Anne volunteers, Chloe. She had been diagnosed with cancer and they removed a tumor but had no idea how much time she had left. She was the perfect lap cat, never cried. Unfortunately she passed on last week and so we said goodbye. Rest in peace.

What's next

Well we've got a few things on our list for the coming weeks. Decking arrives tomorrow so we will get a start on that this weekend. Hopefully we will be repairing the cantilever next week. For those of you that missed this story the steel was undersized at the roof overhang. We need to add a 3/4" x 11" piece of steel on to the flitch beam in place. It will be fun work.

We also need to make another IKEA run and are gearing up for that (when do those tax rebate checks arrive?). Once we get the cantilever fixed it will be on to siding. And there's still the clearing, interior trim, tile, painting, and so on. The list seems to grow longer the more we do. The most immediate task: the cat door. For everyone's sanity.

Hopefully next week we will have some new photos to post.

How many pounds of screws did you say?

Ahh...the Maine dooryard detritis.

I kind of like it black let's leave it. Ow, ow, ow - alright we'll side it.

The cantilever in need of support.

No, that is not decking.