|
|
|
greenhouse upstairs deck frame
Sunday, September 16 2012
This morning even before the Sunday coffee ritual, I was down at the greenhouse arranging concrete blocks and bits of wood to get the greenhouse upstair's new outdoor deck into position. Once it was there, I used lag bolts to attach it to the greenhouse's western wall. The deck's west end, though, still needed some sort of support, so I used various tools to excavate a hole for a southwest post. I managed to dig down about two feet before deeming the hole sufficient; its bottom was near the old surface grade that had existed before the greenhouse (and all the dirt piled around its foundation). I'd expected large rocks in this excavation, but the biggest were only about the size of my fist.
Gretchen and I had our coffee out on the East deck with Ramona (who now uses that deck as her principal bathroom).
Later I dug the hole for the deck's northwest post, managing to get it a little deeper than the southwest post. I then mixed up about 200 pounds of concrete and set the two posts in place, using the deck itself as a jig to orient them correctly. Now all I had to do was wait for the concrete to set up, a prerequisite for further deck work.
This evening I took a bath to purge the concrete alkalinity from my hands and wash away the sweat, dirt, and aggravation from the holes I'd dug. Our occasional houseguest Liza has been known to use my favorite bathtub as a shower, so I was careful to clean the tub after my bath. It's embarrassing to leave a nasty bathtub ring peppered with stubble from my shave.
For linking purposes this article's URL is:
http://asecular.com/blog.php?120916 feedback
previous | next |
