Part 13 Outside Projects

Outside projects

While all the furniture building was underway, there were some things that needed to be done on the outside of the house. We hired most of this work out, since it involved cement work, and digging in the water, and ladder climbing. Jobs for the young guys.

In behind the house was still kind of a mess. It needed to be cleaned up so it wasn’t always full of mud.
So the guys dug a trench for a foundation, and started blocking in a wall.
This keeps the mud up the hill where it belongs.
After the wall was done, a patio was mixed all by hand and dumped to form a patio and cover up all the mud.
And then for the last part, making a set of steps to get to the back patio.

And then for the last part, making a set of steps to get to the back patio.

While this contract work was going on, and the workshop was busy making furniture, we contracted out some window bars. We wanted security but didn’t want to feel like we were in jail. So I found a design on Pinterest, and showed it to a guy. He is a teacher, and they don’t get paid much, so he does welding on the side. It took many many phone calls to expedite, but we finally got the job done. The doors in particular, are really good because it allows us to lock up while we sleep, and still have a breeze come through. The solid doors are really only used in case of really hard rain and wind.

Here’s some projects going on in the workshop while this contracting work was going on….

Ed didn’t think we had enough chairs. So he set up a production line.

All the parts were cut out, routered, sanded, and then assembled.
Then it was on to the finishing department, for painting.

Separately, seats were made from cedar. These match the tables Ed is making, with white bottoms and cedar tops.

What to do with the grill. How about a ‘weenie wagon’? Ed made a cabinet and a couple of countertops with just a formica top and painted edges. And even put it on wheels!


While he was in a wheel mood, he made a couple of rolling tool carts to zoom around the workshop in.
And some porch swings came out of the workshop, for the front porch. They are so much nicer than the hard benches!


Building a Boathouse
One thing about keeping a boat in saltwater. It gets absolutely covered in sludge, algae and barnacles, no matter what kind of magical bottom paint you use. And, if you leave it out uncovered, it can and will rain, and your bilge pump (if you have one) can and will fail. So, it’s time to build a boathouse, with an electric winch to lift it out of the water when not in use.
This boathouse was to be on wooden pilings sunk into the water, so the bottoms were coated in fiberglass to keep them from rotting.
Next, the framing went up, and roof rafters.

And finally some zincs for the roof and a paint job.

The boat is happy up out of the water, and the crew even happier that the wet, dirty job is done!