Working on the Porch

lisa July 18th, 2003

Work has begun on the porch. Seth and John have been out nearly every day and the basic stuff is complete (see the gallery for pictures). Tonight Mark, Seth, John, Alex, Dave, and Greg put up the beam that goes across the front. It was a really heavy beam! We initially projected a two week timeline for the porch, but it’s going to end up taking more than a month. We have another two weeks to go.

We’re using ipe wood for the floor planks because it’s strong, hard, and fire-, rot-, and insect-resistant. Cool wood, especially when you buy it from an environmentally responsible company like we did.

Things in other parts of the house are also progressing. I’m working in the parlor this weekend (patching the walls) and hope to have it ready to prime and paint next weekend. Tuesday night I spent an hour sanding the walls. Last weekend I scraped the paint off of the heating pipes in two corners of the room, then primed them with a Rustoleum metal primer. They look pretty now - pretty for pipes, that is! There are five more pipes to do on the first floor. It’s not a hard job but it takes a while to scrape all the paint.

Mark is planning on doing some more cabinet making in the kitchen this weekend. And on the second floor, we finished gutting the “bird room” (the northeast bedroom) and putting up wallboard. The plasterer can’t make it out here for another couple of weeks, so unfortunately it won’t be ready for use as a guest bedroom when my family arrives at the end of July. So I’ve booked them a hotel room =(. At least the parlor will be done and we will have a nice comfy place to relax while they’re here.

3 Responses to “Working on the Porch”

  1. # Momon 18 Jul 2003 at 8:01 pm

    The porch looks so BIG! Sounds like you’ve been working very hard on the house, but it will pay off later. Can’t wait to see all that you’ve done :)

  2. # Aunt Jeanyon 27 Jul 2003 at 10:12 am

    I’d say your projects are going according to the Project Planner Estimator: “To estimate the length of time a project will take, double the number and go to the next time increment, e.g., if you think it will take 1 hour, it will take 2 days, etc., ad nauseum.”

    Daunting but true, at least in my experience!

    Love,
    Aunt Jeany

  3. # Joelon 14 Aug 2003 at 11:42 am

    Great work & website!

    Have you installed the IPE yet? If so, any pics.
    What size IPE boards did you use (or plan to use)?
    Are the joists pressure treated? They look like it.

    Thanks - Keep up the fine work. Joel