Monday, December 18, 2017

columns and Christmas lights


The turned porch posts went in at the end of October.  They are tremendously beautiful.  Each one is 10 feet tall, and turned from an 8x8 post.  Anything smaller would have been under-scaled, and I'm pleased we got this part right. 


The posts themselves were custom turnings purchased from Mr. Spindle in North Dakota.  We worked with them to perfect the pattern based on the historic photos of the house.  My only complaint is that posts of this scale are only availible as laminated cedar.  BUT, most companies don't even stock 8x8 posts, and those that do only have them in laminated woods, mostly pine, and all for considerably more than we paid.  Customer service was beyond exceptional (the owner or general manager picked up every time I called), and I'm just so damn pleased it all worked out. 

Initially we had only planned to buy the two posts that would flank the porch window salvaged from the porch we tore down.  That window is 10x7, and we didn't want disassemble and remount it when we got around to doing the final columns (our initial plan had been to use 6x6 posts temporarily).  I had talked at length with several different companies, and it was just happenstance that I talked to Bob (the owner) last.  I'm a sucker for anyone who wants to see photos of my house and know its history, and at that point I knew the price he offered to turn the posts for wouldn't be beat.  We paid $5000 for the posts (yes, it hurts to write that number down).  To put that number in perspective, other companies had quoted us $1200 for a custom 6x6 in finger jointed pine, we paid $500 a post for ten 8x8 cedar posts. 

The only mistake made is on my shoulders.  In the historic photos you'll see the routed detail at the top and bottom of the posts. 




























I'm willing to bet the scale and router bits used to create it are identical to the box posts on the juliet balcony off the second floor bath. 

clearly I need new posts, any volunteers?


This complex detail would have to had been done by hand on the already turned posts, and understandably, no one really wanted to risk ruining the posts.  Our builder would have done it had I pushed, but I was overwhelmed enough at that point (and lacking the funds to buy more posts if they were ruined in the process) that I settled for a much simpler set up. 

It's one of an infinite number of things that will bother me that no one else will notice.  It's clear though that the shallow routing has much less impact than the original.... 

The posts are mounted to a square piece of AZEK on the bottom, so they don't wick moisture from the porch floor. The bottom of each post is wrapped in a beveled ceder trim to match the original.  Regrettably I didn't have an opportunity to get the posts painted before it got too cold, but the ends and all contact points have been coated with an excellent oil primer.  I also got primer on where the turning ends at the bottom of the posts.  That tapered bit was quite porous, and I hated the thought of snow just sitting there all winter with no protection from the moisture. 




Thursday, December 14, 2017

figuring out the border

 Shockingly, it was the border around the porch floor that created the most enduring drama of the build, THE BORDER!  Now the idea of a border around the deck is straightforward enough.  It would dress up the edges, protect the end grain of the boards, and sit under the columns so that new flooring could be added without impacting anything structural.  Perhaps most importantly it would dress up the huge expanse of boring deck boards, and bring them just a little bit of class.  We considered doing it in 5/4 treated pine, ipe or cumuru (tropical hardwoods), and AZEK.

A huge area, especially when measured in tiny toddler feet.

The pine was a no go for obvious reasons, we wanted to avoid having to replace it (preferably forever), not to mention it's prone to cupping and splitting.  The ipe and cumuru are beautiful, but they are notorious for not holding paint well (i.e. if they started to fail we wouldn't be able to paint them to extend their life), and they're prone to splitting in dry weather.  Additionally, the widths and lengths we'd need to cut to build up the curve of the gazebo would add considerably to the price, and have left us with many seams.  This left AZEK.  I'm as wary as anyone about putting plastic on an old house, but there are times when it's a life saver.  In the case of this porch it will make up the border, and parts of the fascia and skirting on the gazebo.  Now, one of the greatest things about AZEK is that it bends, and AZEK makes a special heating blanket just for this purpose.  Could I find one to rent or borrow anywhere on the planet?  No, and I called EVERYWHERE...  Luckily I had the brains to call corporate, and they put me in touch with the western PA rep.  He had a blanket.  He came out to bend the boards for us.  FOR FREE.

The deck boards were left long and cut down with a track saw on the straight sides, and a router on the gazebo.  The AZEK trim was bent around the curve so that it matched the radius perfectly.  While this was happening the temporary porch supports were cut and supported as each piece was installed.  No one's quite sure how the section facing the stairs will fair with frequent foot traffic, so we made sure that section can be removed and replaced if it becomes an issue in the future. 
The stick and nail trick was used several times to perfect the curve, including marking for the final decking cuts

Specifications for the lumber and deck stain we're planning to use recommend waiting a year before finishing, so I guess we're done with the deck until summer.

Wednesday, December 13, 2017

decking the porch

No, I don't mean in Christmas decorations, rather, we're going back in time to early October.  Blogging, it's magic....

First though, a stop in August, just after my last post, to pay homage to the most perfectly Cromulent of cats.  Crom passed here at home.  He was around 17.  We were devastated.  I lost all interest in working in the yard without him by my side.  Months later I'm still checking the price on his food at Costco and getting up to let him in when it starts to rain.  He and Jack are both buried under the porch - Jack can guard the doors while Crom can watch the world pass by and greet each and every passerby. 











Fast forward to October, and once again Toren's birthday (two!) is spurring a flurry of work.  Unlike last year, the weather was looking to be glorious, and we decided we'd be celebrating on the porch.  The porch that had no floors.  We knew from the get go that we wouldn't be able to afford proper tongue and groove decking. 5/4 deck boards were really the only option, and even these would be quite expensive given how expansive our porch is.  We made sure that we installed the boards in such a way that they could be removed and replaced with better materials when they started to fail. A variety of lengths of premium lumber were ordered based on a scaled drawing we made to minimize joints and waste.  We even paid to have them delivered.  The wood that was delivered was garbage.  While some of the boards were standard boards that got mixed in (a serious issue in it's own right considering they charged us for premium grade), only half of the pieces were usable.  The store manager agreed to pay for a trailer and a hefty discount, so we brought back the junk boards, picked out new ones and came home.  Thus our first day was completely shot. 


Day two started with a yard full of decking, still soaked from the lumberyard (KDAT is a total joke).  We picked through to find the driest boards, back priming them with some high quality deck stain that I found on the oops shelf for a song.  We marked the edge lines of the border to make sure the deck boards hit or overlapped it (to be trimmed later) and squared the first row to the house.  Initially we started using the Marksman Edge tool to install the boards, which advertised no gaps and hidden fasteners.  It was garbage, which necessitated another trip out to the store to pick up the Marksman Pro, which gives 3/16 spacing and hidden fasteners.  This tool worked beautifully and I recommend it, although our decking looks much more deckish with the gaps, which I was trying to avoid.  

The first several rows went in, and we noticed something strange...  Gaps and curves started appearing.  We were distraught.  Careful measuring revealed the boards not only varied in thickness and width by a 1/4 inch from one another, they also could vary end to end by a similar amount. 



















To say we were pissed is the understatement of the century.  Our anger must have carried through over the phone.  They refunded our entire $1200 purchase price, and told us to keep the boards.  On the one hand, yes, this was a bit of a windfall.  On the other hand, a project that should have taken a couple of days took weeks with a disappointing final result (although we're the only ones who'll notice the flaws).  We ended up measuring each board to insure the same width boards were used throughout the row.  Boards that tapered were used to fix the arcs that had formed.

Some other notes about the installation... 
-  The bottoms and all cut edges are back primed.
-  The boards meet in a herringbone pattern that extends from the corner of the house through the gazebo.


-  The edges were left long to be cut back when the border was installed.  The curve on the porch was done using a narrow board loosely nailed in the center of the gazebo to mark the circumference. 
-  We routed all cut edges to match the factory rounded edges.