Category Archives: Structure

Aug 22 0 comments
Exterior, Structure

Removing the deck, part III

It is hard to believe that this project started almost two years ago.  I started removing the old deck from the front of our house but had to stop for several reasons:

  1. The zoning laws had changed.  The deck no longer met the required setback from the road for the front of the house and I wanted to get clarification on what I was allowed to do.
  2. We decided that we were not going to replace the deck in kind, but rather install a covered porch along the front of the house, which will require more money.
  3. Lack of time.

After last fall’s mix up when installing the footings for the solar system, I wanted to be sure that we weren’t going to run afoul of the town code enforcement officer.  I reviewed the situation and he said what we were planning was fine, reducing the encroachment into the required setback is always welcome.

removal in progress

removal in progress

So, last Saturday, I got busy and removed the rest of the deck.  What I found explained quite a few things.  I think it was constructed around 1980 or so.  First of all, not all the wood used on the deck was pressure treated.  Several supporting members were full of carpenter ants.  Secondly, the deck was not properly attached to the house, it was nailed to the siding.  Thirdly, no flashing was used, so the ledger board was extensively rotted.  In fact, it is so bad under the front door that the rot made its way into the rim joist.

pile of junk

pile of junk

I used the trusty skilsaw, sawsal and 10 pound sledge hammer to get the job done.  In the end, I had a pile of mixed wood, some treated, some rotted, some not.  I took the stuff to the town transfer station, which charges $0.05 per pound for C&D material.  It ended up costing me $64.00 to get rid of everything, which works out to 1,280 pounds.

Front deck removed

Front deck removed

Apparently I wasn’t quite tired enough, so I also got out the chain saw and removed the two overgrown rhododendron bushes as well.  The front of the house looks a little bare right now, but I kind of like it.

Fortunately, the rotted rim joist is one small section and it doesn’t seem to affect the sill plate.  I will examine the sill more closely when we get ready to replace the rim joist.

In the coming weeks, I will get a building permit and put the front porch on before winter time.  It will be nice to have this project done.

Popularity: 1% [?]

Aug 21 1 comments
Exterior, Structure

Building a Boat Dock

This is what I did on vacation:

I made a new dock for the cottage in Canada.  The old dock was built about 20 or more years ago, nobody is really sure.  It had a useful life but last winter the ice caused the dock part to become detached from the crib and fall in the water.   Since Parks Canada no longer allows crib docks in this part of the lake, I had to construct a combination pole/floating dock.

This is the old dock when it was being taken apart:

Old crib dock being disassembled

Old crib dock being disassembled

Here I am working on one of the sections of the new dock:

New dock sections

New dock sections

They are made from 2×10 fir with heavy duty galvanized corner brackets and gusset plates.  I used 3/8 galvanized bolts to secure everything.  The decking is 5″ by 1 1/4″ ACQ deck lumber.  Treated lumber is only allowed on parts that do not have contact with water.  I used 24 inches on center for the decking support, it seems to be very sturdy.

Assembling an eight foot dock section

Assembling an eight foot dock section

There are three sections, on 16′ by 4′ section that is attached to the boat house and supported by concrete filled poles.

The next section is an 8′ by 4′ floating section, and at the end is another 4′ by 8′ section forming a T.

This will allow the dock level to change with the water level, which can vary as much as 30 inches over the course of a season.

Since the cottage is on an island, it was easier to build the dock on the main land and tow it into place with the run about:

16 foot dock section underway

16 foot dock section underway

Once the dock was secured to the boat house, the poles were driven into the lake bed as far as they will go.  This worked out to be about 24 inches before they struck solid rock.  Still, these are 10 foot 2 inch schedule 40 poles:

Sixteen foot dock section secured to boat house

Sixteen foot dock section secured to boat house

The main section is secure, the inspector is here and approves:

Code enforcement officers are a rough bunch

Code enforcement officers are a rough bunch

T section underway in the channel:

Towing T section into place

Towing T section into place

Pumping out the poles and filling them with concrete.  This should make them more rigid and better able to resist the ice movements.  The floating sections will come out during the winter.

dewatering support poles

dewatering support poles

filling support poles with concrete to make them more rigid

filling support poles with concrete to make them more rigid

Construction is completed, now it is time for the test:

Dock under test

Dock under test

Test is successful

Test is successful

Popularity: 2% [?]

Sep 04 0 comments
Heating, Structure

Basement work

This is something that I meant to get done last year.  This year, it is my goal to finish the basement work.  It is, for the most part, dirty unglamorous work that no one but me will see.  I would love to put a deck or covered porch on the front of the house, perhaps next year.  I’d love to get at that siding too.  The fact is, I can’t, in good conscious, do that work without completing all of the basic structural work first.  The basement is key to the whole house, it needs to be done.  That project includes:

  1. Finish repairing the walls.  I started fixing all of the cracks in the walls last spring.  Things are looking pretty good and I am almost done.  I have a few small cracks to fill in with .
  2. Paint the walls.  Basically to cover up all the repairs and make it look better.  This will also allow me to monitor the basement and see if any new cracks develope.
  3. Replace the rotted rim joist under the front door.  This requires that I finish removing the front deck, which will be done this weekend, weather permitting.
  4. Seal up air leaks around sill plate.  This is important in the two additions as I know that they were jacked up and whatever seal was in place was destroyed.  I will use expanding foam to make a good seal around the entire house.
  5. Insulate the ceiling between the main house and the basement.  I know that we are loosing a lot of heat to the basement every winter.  Now that oil prices are $4.40 per gallon I want to minimize that loss as much as possible.  I am looking to install unfaced R-19 insulation bats in all of the open bays.  This work should pay for itself in the first year.
  6. Finish repairing the termite damage on the main support beam.  Termites are interesting creatures.  They seemed to consume just one part of one of the 2 x 6’s in the main support beam.  It does not seem to have changed the structural integrity, nor can I find any evidence of termite activity in the other two 2 x 6’s.  I have looked and drilled several inspection holes, which I will fill with epoxy. The beam work may take place over the winter months
  7. Replace all of the lolly columns.  They are all looking a little rusty.  I am sure that they will last for several more years, but if I am doing the beam, I might as well replace all of the support columns as well.  I may pour concrete pads under the columns.
  8. Build storage shelves and better organize things.  Since our basement work last spring, things are sort of piled up in the middle of the floor.  It would be nice to set up several large storage shelves.

The most important of all of that work right now is the insulation.  I am going to try and get our oil usage down to one tank full (275 gallons) this year.  It may be a bit of a stretch, last year we used 450 gallons, but I have some strategies.

First off, the insulation and air leak sealing.  Every year I do some work on this and every year it gets better. I think if I can get the basement sealed up, a lot of heat loss through the floor will be avoided.  It will also make thinks like the furnace and hot water heater more efficient because they won’t be sitting in a cold drafty basement.

Secondly, I am working on a solar furnace.  Right now, I think I have a unique design and I am researching existing patents.  If no one else has come up with my design, I will patent it.  I am building a few prototypes to try out.  I am working on something that will take advantage of snow cover and can be mounted on south facing vertical walls.

Thirdly, I am going to have more wood available this year to better utilize the wood stove.  It can be a pain sometimes, but it does save money and the wood supply is still free.  Free heat is good heat.  More on the woodstove and wood supply later.

Popularity: 3% [?]

Jun 28 2 comments
Exterior, Structure

Projects, finances and priorities

Earlier this year I wrote out my project list based on what I thought we could afford to do this year and what the highest priority items where. The first item on the list was the raised beds for the vegetable garden. That project was more labor than money as I used locally available rocks to make the beds and a few yards of crushed stone for the walkways. Not too hard on the bank account.

The next item on the list was to build a shed. With the high cost of gas, food, etc, we have to look closely at the family budget to see what we can afford.  The shed may get pushed back to next year in favor of fixing the front of our house.

I started removing the old front deck, basically because the thing was about to fall off of the house. The builders used improper hardware for pressure treated lumber and all of the nails are rusting through. The whole thing will likely collapse under one more heavy snow fall, which we seem to receive quite often around here. Rather than have the “Front door to nowhere” look, I want to replace the deck with a covered porch that runs along the front half of the house. Of course, this is a much bigger project than I initially thought.

I did a couple of really quick drawings using google sketchup.  I will have to go back and fix them up for the building permit, basically my idea is something like this:

front porch sketch

The porch would be 8-10 feet wide, running about 24 feet along the front of the house.  There would be one step on the end.  The roof would hip into the house roof about 1/2 way between the edge and the peak.  I will have to measure, but I believe that span would be about 14-16 feet long.  I believe the porch roof will require 2 x 10 or even 2 x 12 lumber.  The porch and roof would be supported by 6×6 posts on 12 inch footing to a depth of 48 inches.

I believe this would greatly improve the front of our house and once this is done, we can get the siding done and all of that will much improve the curb appeal if we decide to sell.  This would be the view if one were walking up the path from the drive way, just about to step onto the porch.  Of course, I will put shutters on the windows, and perhaps some hanging plants, a bench or some Adirondack Chairs, etc.

front porch

The other project for this summer is going to be a photovoltiac system.  The cost of electricity just keeps going up and up.  While the solar hot water is doing great (our electric bill for May/June is 50% of last year’s bill) I would like to reduce that even further.

The shed will have to wait until next year.

Popularity: 3% [?]

Apr 24 3 comments
Exterior, Structure

Removing the old deck, Part II

This has been slow going for a number of reasons:

  1. I am trying to save as much lumber for re-use as possible.  There is one 2×8 that cracked in half around a large knot.  The rest of it seems to be pretty sound and can be re-used for the decking material on the new porch.  This means removing each piece, removing all the nails, then stacking it neatly next to the side of the house, out of sight.
  2. I have been distracted by many other things, such as winter cleanup, the grass growing, the garden rototilling, planting new grass before it gets too warm to name a few.
  3. I have also been very busy at work and at the side job

Regardless of all that, I hope to have the entire deck removed in the next couple of weeks.  Here is an updated picture:

old deck being removed

And, just in case you are not enjoying all this good weather we are having around here… Last year at this time it looked like this:

april snow storm 2007

Personally, I rather like the 75-80’s vs 6 inches of snow…

Popularity: 4% [?]