12 January 2014

Well, and did we have a roaring time! The two daughters came for a visit over Christmas, and we chilled out, built puzzles, had huge meals and did all of those nice things. It took a while to get up to steam again, with all the other happenings happening.

I had some time on my hands and built a carport from curved iron I had, and steel framing which I have bought a while back. Now the car can fit in there, and will not get marked by the birds.

We have applied for another grant to rebuild the decks. In the meanwhile, I discovered some Totara boards, 150 *25, that is the closest to the original we can hope to get. (The original deck was built with Totara) I ordered 20 to see if it is right, with the idea to order a further 140 if it shapes up. Guess where these boards ended up? Yes, under the carport!

We started demolishing the old deck by the current entrance. It turns out none of the original timber is salvageable. I bought some house piles, 125 * 125 mm to replace the bearers. The joists will be replaced by fence posts. 100*100. I am limited by the height of the original deck and the little storage room on the corner. The piles are still in a good condition.

Thinking of  it, I might just cut the timber piles 50 mm shorter, and remove and re position the concrete piles. That would allow me to use 150 mm joists. Nah.