Looks like the momentum is going to take a break. The trim guy has done all he can at the house until the cabinets and stained woodwork are in place. In the meantime he’ll be working on the built-ins for the closets and our cabinets upstairs.
We have some selections to make – particularly the tile – so that work can start and free up some other things to get going as well.
We’re waiting to hear from the garage door guys so we can make a selection and get that going. Once the garage doors are in place, we should be able to get moving on the exterior painting. That will make a real difference in the outside appearance!
In the meantime, Dale and Jonathan worked on Saturday to wrap up the floor joists for the Front Porch. Earlier Andrew had put in the joist hangers and joists for the center section of the porch so we could use it to go in and out of the house – so that part was all done and we had put temporary decking on top to walk on. However we had not installed the hangers for the side sections – and it was time to do that.
We measured carefully and nailed all the hangers in place as you can see below.
However, before we put the deck joists in place, we wanted to cover the area underneath with landscape fabric so that we will never have any problems with weeds growing up under there.
So we bought some fabric and pinned it down underneath where the deck is going to go. It’s not so pretty, so we needed something to cover it with. Before we started renovating there was just pine straw under there and we had to replenish it a few times over 35 years.
Wanting to make it a little more permanent, we opted for pea gravel, and headed to the local outdoor products store and had them load up the truck. We could only take about 1500 lbs, so we made two trips for a total of 3000 lbs of pea gravel.
When we returned to the house the first time, it was a nice hot day, so we just backed the truck up to the porch and started shoveling. It didn’t take too long to cover up half of the fabric, and Dale headed back for another load.
By the time he had returned, the sky was getting dark and we started watching the radar to see what we were in for. We were minding our own business – shoveling and raking the pea gravel to level it out, and here it came!
I think the word ‘deluge’ was fitting for what happened next. Water was pouring off the roof and the truck bed became a pond.
I’m glad we have a good prime coat of paint on the bargeboards – and this rain event convinced us even more that we need to spend some extra effort protecting the exposed parts of all the trim and bargeboards and brackets so they don’t rot out.
As we were waiting out the storm(s) that kept on coming and coming, the water level in the driveway outside the Garage slowly started rising. 
The rain would ease up and the water level start to drop, and then here would come another downpour. As the muddy lake slowly crept higher, we realized that we were in danger of the water coming in the garage where there was still a big stack of trim – much of it MDF, that we really didn’t want to get wet.
Over by the retaining wall was a big pile of gravel and sand, so we wheelbarrowed a load over to the garage door opening and built a dam to keep the water out.
Just as we got our dam built, the rain subsided and the water began to ebb. Another disaster averted! Next week we are certainly going to work on cleaning out the bottom of the driveway so that when the storms return, the water can get filtered and make its way downstream.
After the storms, we went back to work on the porch joists. We had already cut them to length – just needed to put them in the hangers and nail them in.
Before long they were all in place and ready for the floor boards. However, we’re going to wait until later to put those in so they don’t get messed up during the rest of the construction process.
Another full Saturday and another item checked off the list. Tom & Melanie and family are all out on vacation next week, so don’t anticipate much happening during the week, but Dale and Jonathan will be back on Saturday to tackle the next items on their list. Watch for an update then.
