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Repairing the Porch, Day Fifteen

Happy Birthday to Beth! Woo hoo!

Since school starts tomorrow, I decided to work on the railings of my porch yesterday. Denis is back in town and was interested in working on the lattice that covers the bottom part of the porch. We went to Home Depot to get the lattice materials. The Home Depot location we went to didn’t have enough trim pieces, so we went to a second one. It had enough trim, so we got what we needed and headed home.

This is one of the two we stopped at.  It's the closest one to my house.

This is one of the two we stopped at. It’s the closest one to my house.

When we got home, Denis started on the lattice. The trim pieces don’t snap on, so we had gotten some glue. To keep them in place, Denis was using masking tape. I thought he should use zip ties, so I ran out to Home Depot to get some. That’s three visits to Home Depot so far.

At home again, I was going to start by cutting the railing. I planned to use a jigsaw, because I need to cut a slight curve into the railing ends to accommodate the columns, but after I opened my new jigsaw blade, I realized it was a reciprocating saw blade. D’oh! I headed back out to Home Depot to get the correct kind of blade. I found some blades specifically made for cutting curves. Woo hoo! Four Home Depot visits.

When I got home, I put a blade in the jigsaw. It only stuck out about an inch. That wasn’t enough to cut the railing. Dang. Off to a different Home Depot to see if they had a longer blade. There weren’t any long jigsaw blades. The guy in the tool department suggested a coping saw. That means sawing by hand. Ugh. Five Home Depot visits.

This is the next closest one.

This is the next closest one.

Denis was finished with the first panel and working on the second when I got home. I realized that I needed to paint the face pieces of wood before he attached the lattice to it, so I postponed the railing work and painted instead. Painting wood was LOT easier than painting the fiberglass columns. It was also particularly satisfying because it’s such a visible change.

BEFORE:

AFTER:

3 Comments

  1. Lauren

    Holy cow – five visits? This could have been the most exciting episode if you’d video this process. I am on the edge of my seat. 🙂 Great work, guys!

    Happy Birthday, Beth!

  2. Kristi

    Looking good over there.

    Happy Birthday to Beth!

  3. Gretchen

    I am trying to decide who got the better deal – your multiple trips to Home Depot, or Denis, staying at the house and working. I think I’m going to go with Denis, but it is very close.

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