Sunday, November 18, 2007

Like a glove

One of the things about DIY stuff for a guy like me is that things aren't gonna be perfect. I'm doing a lot of things for the first time and not always doing them with the right tools. (I can't go buying a fancy jigsaw table just cause I need to cut notches out of my deck posts.) I read as much as is practical. When possible I talk to guys who do know what they're doing. I measure twice, all that. I make plenty of mistakes, most of which I disclose here.

But the deck is turning out pretty well. Last of the ipe is on. I got lucky and the last row of boards fit the framing almost exactly, so I didn't have to cut those boards the long way; there'll be a little bigger gap between the ipe and the facsia than I'd like in a couple of places, but perfectly tolerable (for me):


Starting getting the 2x12 cedar fascia on, which looks great. Hard to do by myself:


I finished staining all the cedar for the top rail; I notched all the deck posts, which now need to have their holes drilled (for the cable rail) and to be stained:

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Look at you -- six posts in four days! That's what I'm talking about. And you're leaving the stick in the tank and then just deciding to push it the rest of the way in is genius. Got a good chuckle from that.

Chris said...

You know this is a weird balancing act. I could write ten posts a day, but since I'm only getting out to the house a day or so a week, that would mean a lot of blogging about the Hoyas, my kids, how hard it is to keep my drafty house warm, whether I'm sold on Obama despite how much I want to be sold on Obama, how I broke my ipod, etc. And that would be a whole different blog.

You are my imagined audience for the non-house items on this blog as it is. I know how hard it is for someone in your position to find new distractions...TMQ can only take up so much of your day.

Anonymous said...

My guess is you could also write several posts a day just on the house, which is, after all, the reason for the blog and the reason most of your readers visit the site. We want to hear about the paths not taken; the dangers narrowly averted; the mistakes you've made (and what you would do differently next time). This is what presents the conflict.

As you said, I can read TMQ (and do) when I'm looking for a distraction.

Chris said...

Sarah would say - under "paths not taken" - a condo at the beach.