I really don't need another project around the house.
But the winter is harsh on our front porch and we had noticed a certain amount of rot occurring along the bottom of the trim boards which cover the supporting posts. Which was surprising, considering the fact that the trim posts are cedar. Isn't cedar supposed to be rot-resistant?
Oh, well. Can't tolerate rot in a house. Drives down the value. So, gleefully, as I do with all my deconstruction activities, I tore into it.
First, off came the bottom trim panels.
Behind the bottom trim panels, it is observed that the bottom of the long boards are touching the concrete. That is bad. That causes wicking of water, and not even a super-wood like cedar can resist rot when it is constantly soaking in water. So out came the saw, and the bottom portion of the post trim boards had to come off.
Guess what was inside?
Yep. You guessed it. Spiderwebs. A wasp nest. Besides the obvious rotten wood. And, as if that wasn't bad enough, the steel post support at the bottom (which is obscured above by the spiderwebs and wasp nest) is all rusted and flaking.
On to the next post.
A little history first, though. A couple years after we purchased the house, some wasps or hornets made a nest inside this post. We could tell because the post was buzzing, and the little buggers were sneaking in at the bottom of the post along a seam in the concrete which just happened to coincide with the placement of the post (which was a stupid design, in my opinion). We took immediate steps to avoid a serious problem at that time: we plugged the entrance hole at the bottom. And never heard any buzzing anymore, not even years afterward.
So we knew that we were going to find something "natural" behind the cedar panel.
Sure enough, we did.
Almost three feet of all-natural paper wasp nest, long abandoned. Cool!
But -- more rot on the bottom part of the posts, and more rust on the steel support.
And, more critically, rot on the 2x4s which form the "inner core" of the post support.Which means we're going to have to tear the whole thing apart to replace it.
But not today. I've already spent half the day getting this far, and there are lots of other projects to work on today.
I've got three posts to go!
Plus a rabbit hole to fill in!!
I was taking one of the yard waste bins to the backyard the other day and came around the corner in view of the pathetic non-fruit bearing pear tree and noticed a rabbit sitting by the tree with a horribly guilty look on its face; when I moved forward (because I had things to do), the stupid rabbit ran away, revealing that it had been digging this hole into the roots of the pathetic non-fruit bearing pear tree, which in the long run probably won't make any difference because in all the years we've lived here, the pathetic non-fruit bearing pear tree hasn't fared very well and I expect it to up and die any day. But surely this rabbit hole is adding insult to injury! First they dug a hole next to the front-yard tree, then they dug this one. I have to seriously wonder how stupid these animals are. What kind of protection comes from a six-inch deep hole stuffed with three to four bunnies, right out in the middle of the yard with absolutely no protection?
The foxes must be having a field day with these idiot rabbits.
==
In other news, I'm still employed, James and Tabea have set a date for the wedding, Mary is having way too much fun cooking dinners and getting ready for college, Deb is working and saving lots of money when she's not buying new clothes, and Adam continues to write and get together with his game-playing buddies. And we have an on-going Sushi Go! game which we play after dinner and keep track of family scores. As expected, I'm in Dead Last place.
And our Twenty-Fifth Wedding Anniversary is fast approaching.
But the winter is harsh on our front porch and we had noticed a certain amount of rot occurring along the bottom of the trim boards which cover the supporting posts. Which was surprising, considering the fact that the trim posts are cedar. Isn't cedar supposed to be rot-resistant?
 |
| Rotten trim panels, Ahoy! |
First, off came the bottom trim panels.
 |
| Rotten trim panels removed |
Behind the bottom trim panels, it is observed that the bottom of the long boards are touching the concrete. That is bad. That causes wicking of water, and not even a super-wood like cedar can resist rot when it is constantly soaking in water. So out came the saw, and the bottom portion of the post trim boards had to come off.
Guess what was inside?
 |
| Inside the faux-post |
Yep. You guessed it. Spiderwebs. A wasp nest. Besides the obvious rotten wood. And, as if that wasn't bad enough, the steel post support at the bottom (which is obscured above by the spiderwebs and wasp nest) is all rusted and flaking.
On to the next post.
A little history first, though. A couple years after we purchased the house, some wasps or hornets made a nest inside this post. We could tell because the post was buzzing, and the little buggers were sneaking in at the bottom of the post along a seam in the concrete which just happened to coincide with the placement of the post (which was a stupid design, in my opinion). We took immediate steps to avoid a serious problem at that time: we plugged the entrance hole at the bottom. And never heard any buzzing anymore, not even years afterward.
So we knew that we were going to find something "natural" behind the cedar panel.
Sure enough, we did.
Almost three feet of all-natural paper wasp nest, long abandoned. Cool!
But -- more rot on the bottom part of the posts, and more rust on the steel support.
And, more critically, rot on the 2x4s which form the "inner core" of the post support.Which means we're going to have to tear the whole thing apart to replace it.
But not today. I've already spent half the day getting this far, and there are lots of other projects to work on today.
I've got three posts to go!
Plus a rabbit hole to fill in!!
 |
| Rabbit Started to Dig a Hole ... |
 |
| But was interrupted and never Came Back |
The foxes must be having a field day with these idiot rabbits.
==
In other news, I'm still employed, James and Tabea have set a date for the wedding, Mary is having way too much fun cooking dinners and getting ready for college, Deb is working and saving lots of money when she's not buying new clothes, and Adam continues to write and get together with his game-playing buddies. And we have an on-going Sushi Go! game which we play after dinner and keep track of family scores. As expected, I'm in Dead Last place.
And our Twenty-Fifth Wedding Anniversary is fast approaching.
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