The Porch

The Porch.  Not a big one or a wrap-around-the-house kind...but big enough to sit on and relax late in the day on a sunny afternoon in the shade of the house.  It's covered by the roof and with it's advanced age (127 years old) for a simple wooden construct it has done quite well.  It's on the north side, the cold and wet side and shady side of this house.  Dry rot (a misnomer if ever there was one) is an ever present danger to these rather lightly built subfloor structures.  The wood is white/live oak or worse yet common fir...and it simply can't take the weather.  Oh it's painted, the same grey paint the body of the house has but it isn't enough protection.  Thus the corner column has pushed it's way into the structure as the floor and the structure supporting it are rotting away at a stately pace.  I started today to repair the damage before we do any travels (IF we do any travels) this summer.  It isn't extensively damaged, just the corner and a few boards along the front will need replaced.  The supporting beams and whatever underneath are more interesting and MAY take a bit more construction than the simple flooring will require.  I will be finding out soon...as I used floor jacks today to jack the overhang off the corner a bit (about 1.5 inches) so that I could examine the rot better and decide what must be done.  The jacks are quite stout, they are railroad train car truck jacks and probably could lift a good portion of this house if it needed lifting.  They are substantial!  Tomorrow I'll dig further into it, strip off some dead wood and see what kind of beam and joist material will be needed.  Then off to my nemesis HOME DEPOT to acquire the wood.  Check back tomorrow, I'll have some pictures of the rot and what I'm up to.  Til then...so long for now!