Open Sesameee

What, you may be wondering, have we been up to lately? Well, after my nephew helped us finish the porch....

Long story short, our sense of home security has been shaken so we've decided to change the chain link gate that doesn't span the whole driveway with a wooden one that does. This is one of Chris' first wood working project that he's planned out all by himself. This is his baby so I'll be a bystander this time around. Its a learning experience. I don't need to put my 2 cents in all the time. He's got to refine his technique.

So the plan is to pattern the gate after the existing fence. Its one of those louvered ones with lattice at the top. We've decided to leave off the lattice for now... see how it looks first. We pulled out our home improvement books, some bought. some gifts (Thanks Collin!!). And we figure its gonna be a heavy door so we should put diagonal supports. Should we use wood or cable & turnbuckles? How about both!!! (We're learning from the previous owner) Chris took all the measurements and we're ready to roll.

Independence weekend gives us plenty of time to work on this project. We take advantage of Home Depot's 10% off for active military, veterans, and their families. I call up my Dad and he goes on his treasure hunt for his military ID. Eventually all he finds is his shot records signed by his sergeant and some other non-ID military stuff. They are planning to build a fence too so the discount is perfect timing. We all meet at the San Carlos H.D. and 4-5 hours later we leave with $600 worth of stuff. The bulk of it was for my parents but that's still a lot of wood. Redwood's expensive. But we had a really nice checker guy helping us. Thanks Guy!!

We've got our second of many BBQ's after that so we just unpack and head out. The next day we start cutting wood and nailing stuff, but his royal nephewness is sleeping so we had to do quieter work. Uh, cleanup I guess. Our 2nd bbq is next door anyway so we get ready for that. My dad's supervising and offering his advice. "Were you coating the bottom of the post with something before pouring the cement over it?" Apparently there's this copper green stuff that prevents rot and bugs and stuff like that. Um, its pressure treated wood already. Eh, I'll check out the prices and decide. "You don't want the bottom of the post touching the dirt cuz over time it could sink and rot and... You could put a card board box in the whole and pour a little concrete in before putting the post in..."

Interjection... My dad's very handy, as is Chris' dad. My dad likes to "beef it up" whenever possible. Better save than sorry. Might as well do it now while you're working on it. "I'd add this extra dohickymajigger to strengthen the thingamabob." *sigh* A lot of the stuff he suggests makes sense but some is overkill. Thanks for the suggestions, as well as everyone's suggestions. We'll do what works for us but keep what you say in mind.

Since we have extra concrete anyway, we'll just dig a slightly deeper whole and see what happens. But that's not for another few days.

By now its Wednesday and its back to work. Over the next few days we get each door built and ready to mount on the posts. We reused some 2"x4"s that were taken out of the basement for the frame of the doors. Unfortunately they're not the straightest pieces and its got lots of nail holes in it already. But we're cheap so we move on. We do a dry fit so we know where to dig the whole for the post. Uh oh.... Somehow the 4"x4" post wasn't taken into consideration when taking measurements. Luckily there's enough overhang on the deck to cut in to without hitting the support beams of the deck. And this way its closer to the wall so no one can fit in between.

By the end of the weekend we've got one door mounted. Monday the hole is dug and the post is bathing in cement. We had the rest of the thing up and running in no time after that.

As we bolt on the remainder of the hardware, of course, we had to take some time out to talk to Mom and Dad and tell them how much we miss them and are anxiously awaiting their arrival in a few weeks. Hopefully by then there won't be as much work left for them to do so they can just relax and enjoy their visit. Whenever they come they do nothing but work and we realize that we don't let them know how much we appreciate their help nearly as often as we should. So, thanks, Mom and Dad, for all the help!!