Old Front Porch with a new look

Job done well, not without its learning curves but well done in the end. This was a fine example of a sturdy old front porch that was well built and stood through the years. I landed this job initially as  a deck refacing. The homeowners wanted a matching color composite decking the same as their porch in the rear of the home. You can somewhat see the changes I made. The original construction I admired a lot because taking it apart was a breeze. Who ever first built this the first time built it like a timber frame, large rough cut lumber notched out to sit with gravity holding it down . They mortised it into the homes sill-member (an 8"x 8" block) and the notch they made was structural enough so that I just followed along with what was there. I added 6 inch lags to a piece a 2" x 8" pressure treated to the home for a ledger board but I still cut out for the mortises on either end for the 6" x 6" timber I incorporated into the frame.  Anyway, the pictures do more justice then my words
. Enjoy!

Old decking

One of the changes I made were all the miters lacking in the old construction. But as you can see a new porch was necessary. 

Rotten timber

New decking

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Faucet-Window Repair in Sidney, Susan and David

Another job for the books. The window I was called to fix in this beautiful home had been leaking and for the duration of almost one year since the new homeowners, David and Susan had bought it. The window in the second story of the home leaked when it rained and leaked when the snow/ ice dams up above it. I went in and removed the siding to find that there was no tar paper or ice and water shield. Rather then using the regular roofing Ice and Water, I purchased the Vycor Window Sealer, a similar Grace owned product. which is manufactured for windows. It worked well, it sticks more then the roofing Grace in my opinion. I used a method of sealing in the window and preserving the sheathing/ frame opening that was verbalized to me by my program director at Central Maine Community College. His position at CMCC, teaching building and construction grants him the most up to date information for how products should be installed for guaranteed results. A good reference to have on a job site with variables. Check out the photos.

OCEA approved

Safety first

Very nice view! 

I left a gap here between the paper and the Vycor and at this stage, when I put my last
9" section of Vycor Ice and Water shield on, it is going to
grab the window, the sheathing, the vycor, and the tar paper for a strong tight seal.

Now, all gaps are closed and all windows are water proofed! 

   

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Customer Supplied Decking, Mark and Kim in Fairfeild

This job was a request for a new front porch. Up until the deck was torn apart, I wasn't sure what the condition of the frame of the porch would be. Now, because I could see one rotten joist that was exposed I had the homeowner gather enough wood to rebuild the porch but I did not end up using all of it. The only rotten sections were just the joists that had the decking seams from the plywood that were on it and the outside edges of the frame. This client offered to supply all the material and was just looking for my help installing it. What I put down for deck boards was a 2" thick composite board and the joists for the deck frame were untreated rough cut wood boards. I explained that untreated wood doesn't have longevity like Pressure Treated but that I would cover it in Grace Ice and Water Shield and then spray a solution to keep bugs off on it. Check out the photos.

I had to remove siding and account for 1 3/8" gap because before their was J
channel flush with half inch plywood.
Add 2" decking and your butt up to the siding so I had to adjust.

The decking boards look dirty because they were dirty, they will wash nicely.

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Composite Deck Sidney, ME

This job is one that I was asked to help with by a contractor I used to work for and now I am working with! Chris Soucy subbed me out to help him with this. The decking material is a composite PVC decking, one technique I appreciate about working with Chris Soucy is that he lays down strips of ice and water shield over the pressure treated decking to even further the life of the frame. His thought is if your putting down a lifetime decking material, why wouldn't you make the frame lifetime too. This deck job was also installed with a hidden fastening system to eliminate screw holes. Check out the pictures.

And the view is incredible!

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Trafton Rd. Mechanic Shop Torsion Door

This was a commission for a commercial garage door to be installed in a clients mechanic shop. He has a very outfitted shop for many hobby project types like working with metal, cars and much more. He asked me to help him install a torsion door, I spoke to him and we agreed that the door would be a very ideal solution to the large wooden doors that would heave closed in the winter. Check out the photos.

New Door

Door to be replaced

Each spring took 40 quarter turns = (tired arms)

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