Neander Joinery Experience Helped on First Construction Project

[Jim Koepke]

The porches on this house of the missus and mine left a bit to be desired. Finally getting a round tuit has me working on this.

This is the old porch dismantling:

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This is the current state of the work in progress:

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SWMBO requested low riser stairs. She also had trouble with the old stairs not all being the same height. These have a rise of 6" the treads are 11".

This was my first ever making a set of stairs. Have made a ladder or two.

Being able to cut joinery by hand helped in a few places:

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My grandson even helped cut the stringers:

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His first use of a circular saw.

jtk

[James Pallas]

Deck and stairs looking good. Best part is Grandpa and Grandson, great team.
Jim

[Brian Holcombe]

Nice work, Jim!

[ken hatch]

Jim,

Nice clean and usable deck, good on you and your grandson. BTW, BTDT and had rather make a workbench:p.

ken

[Osvaldo Cristo]

Deck and stairs looking good. Best part is Grandpa and Grandson, great team.
Jim

Fully agree!

All other things paled at that! I have no grandson yet but I envy you!

[Reinis Kanders]

Looks nice.
What kind of wood is that?

[Jim Koepke]

Looks nice.
What kind of wood is that?

Thanks all for the kind words. We have been having a warm spell of late. Only been working in the morning and the late afternoon to avoid working in direct sun. Of course with any project like this there is always something else that needs some care.

The wood is pressure treated hemlock fir. The label says it is good for ground contact. The posts are being ~2" deep, set in cement. Which is some ground contact.

The old deck was just nails and later screws added to hold it together. It only had one joist on 4' center. The posts were set less than a foot in a hole dug with a shovel. It came down real easy like.

We are using Simpson Strong Ties to hold this one together. SWMBO is impressed with the solid feel of the first deck. She is ready for me to build a table and chairs to sit out there. The deer often walk by on the hillside to poach from the bird feeder.

jtk

[lowell holmes]

Jim looks different in the picture than he does in his avatar. Nice looking fellow.

[Jim Koepke]

Jim looks different in the picture than he does in his avatar. Nice looking fellow.

Thanks Lowell.

The old porch came down easy:

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With the experience gained building the first porch, the second one went up a little quicker:

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The railings and hand rails on the stairs will be finished at a later date. The overhang on either side will be for a cat perch and potted plants.

Looks like the door and the rest of the house could use some paint.

jtk

[James Waldron]

Nice looking work! Nice looking young fella! But about that old geezer, .... :D

[Stew Denton]

Jim,

Your porches are looking great, big improvement from the old ones.

Stew

[steven c newman]

hmmm, maybe I started something?

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Compared to what was "existing"...
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Too small, no handrails, and dangerous steps...