The new stoop review

The Dancy house received a new door stoop, door jamb, and exterior casing due to the water splashing up from the brick porch. 

The sill under the stoop was carved out with a couple of saw cuts and a chisel. I used pressure treated deck board as an affordable alternative to overpriced 5/4 yellow pine. I will have to let it dry out a little prior to painting.

How to carry a 16 foot 2x8 without a truck

You never know what issues you will uncover when you start peeling back the layers.

In this case, a rotten door casing and siding caused by water bouncing off the masonry stoop. It is hard to estimate a cost for a job like this because you don't know what the sill looks like until you start peeling away the layers. 

This ended up being the worst case scenario with the sill being completely rotted and some of the stoop having to be removed to get to it. 

Water supply pipes a go-go

We pulled the water supply pipes out of the old barroom today. That required a little soldering, a little cutting, a little more soldering, and then finally a trip down town to get a cap for the PVC a little further down the line because I had to cut the copper line too close to the coupling with the CPVC and may have melted it. Oi vey.

Rotten sills and inconvenient stoops

IYou never know what issues you will uncover when you start peeling back the layers.

In this case, a rotten door casing and siding caused by water bouncing off the masonry stoop. It is hard to estimate a cost for a job like this because you don't know what the sill looks like until you start peeling away the layers. 

This ended up being the worst case scenario with the sill being completely rotted and some of the stoop having to be removed to get to it. 

Job bid and siding update

We have gotten a couple more roofing bids out there. All wooden shingle and about the same size 1700 -1800 square feet. The latest one is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. This is just a teaser and I'll talk more about it if we get the contract.

I'm slowly making my way around the workshop with the siding. I only get about 3 or 4 hours in the afternoon to work on it, but every little bit counts.

The planter box

My wife has learned one of the secrets of being married to a craftsman. 

Not wanting to pay for mass production and poor craftsmanship I will often claim that I can build something much better when she shows interest while shopping. The one thing I neglect to mention is that it may take a few years before I get to it.

She now replies with the phrase, "you will build it today." I am very fortunate that she enjoys my rustic view of the world. 

The "you will build it today" series proudly presents, the window planter box. Made from a cut of the workshop siding and put together using 8d galv nails, I didn't even have to look hard for materials. All it needs now is a little primer and paint.

Hindsight is board and board

With the weather drying out a bit and the spring semester finally over, I've had a chance to do a little more work on the workshop.

A couple days ago I notched in a couple more nailers across the studs in order to prepare for the vertical siding. These are spaced two feet and were pretty fast to put up even with all the notch cutting I had to do.

Yesterday I finally started putting up the siding! I have been planning a board and batten pattern with varying width boards for quite some time. Only after I started did I realize that I could have just as easily done a board and board pattern which would eliminate ripping the battens down to width.

Oh well. Hindsight, and all other cliches that add to your experience levels. ;)

A window for horse

One of my weekend jobs involves working at the local vet clinic as a handyman and fixing up the old horse barn. This window location is original to the structure but was cut out in the 70s to add a massive air conditioner.

I had to reframe the section of wall and we decided to go with a big box vinyl window replacement that I finally cased over the weekend. The cap flashing is my favorite bit.

All it needs now is a little oil-based primer and some paint to last another 50 years.

Original porch decking

Expecting the worse, we pulled up the 2-inch strip flooring to reveal the original porch decking. 

The 3-inch tongue and groove deck boards were in great condition although 20% of them had been removed entirely when the area was close in and turned into a bathroom in the 20s. 

Sloping at about 1-inch for every 8-feet, I think we will pull it up and sister the floor joists to sit level. Shae also wants to have a plywood subfloor installed underneath which would add even more stability, although I hardly feel that precaution is necessary it really doesn't hurt and the added cost of material is minimal for such a small room. 

I also want to put some insulation in before putting the floor back down, but hesitate with all the added moisture present under there due to bad grading and a high water table. Insulation could hold moisture and rot the joists, at the moment that moisture evaporates and does minimal damage. 

4 inches up

Shae was very excited as I decided to remove the rest of the plywood and old flooring materials from the old bathroom floor. It was relatively short work that revealed proof that there had been many water damage issues in past years. 

The floor is quite soft in spots so I will need to pull the floor completely up to repair the floor joists. A level subfloor will be added at that time and old flooring will be mixed in with replacement flooring make a uniform surface. 

We were amazed, but not surprised, as the floor was actually built up no less than 4 inches up the side of the bathtub.

Flat Roof Repair

With the gloomy forecast of four days of rain and thunder showers, it was time to tear into the roof and find out what was going on. 

Flat roofs are not recommended for the simple fact that water pools up and doesn't shed off the roof. The problem is accentuated when previous homeowners attempt to expand an area by tying prior construction to newer remodels.

No matter how straight things are when the remodel is when constructed, valleys soon form from differing seasonal movement and settling between old construction and new. Our roof is no exception as four remodels all meet at one corner over the old bathroom, the area we are tearing into.

Every step we take into this project, we find more evidence of prior leak issues, attempting patch work, and poor results. 

We will fix the roof today with some patching compound and rubber sealant on the EPDM roof which will last another couple of years but will design a low sloping hip style standing seam roof to add in the future

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