Before The Patio Collapses...

Last time we saw each other, I’d just torn out an outdoor cabinet / counter-top as it sat, disintegrating the back patio. It was the initial first step of a patio remodel. The timing was intended to take advantage of the city’s curbside bulk trash pickup. I’ll need several of those pickups over time to get rid of all the stuff I’d be the replacing, and they only come once a quarter.

At the time, I figure’d I’d leave the next steps until cooler months, but I uncovered a problem. A rotten problem.

The support posts are a wreck

I’d hoped to wait until cooler weather, at least something below 100°, before I kicked off a big outdoor project. Uncovering that much damage, I was worried about the structure holding up. I figured I could find some kind of temporary jack post.

I searched around locally and couldn’t find anything affordable for temporary use. Instead, I picked up two, 2x6 boards. and cut them to size.

I have a perfectly good JawHorse in the garage. It would have peen perfect to hold the boards. But it was in the garage. The patio chairs were right there,… not doing anything. Don’t tell my wife.

I cut the boards tight, because I wanted them to take the weight off the post. I had to smack them into place with a rubber mallet.

The overhead beam was angled with the roof slope, so my boards were slightly different lengths. I popped them both in place and made sure they were plumb.

I nailed them into place with my cordless nailer, toe nailing at the top and along the sides, then nailing them together.

It will hold for now. The timing is terrible of course. We’re having the house appraised. This is really going to draw the eye, in a bad way.

More Pre-demolition

With the horrible old cabinet demolished, I figured I could do a bit more. I started pulling down the old lighting that had probably been out there twenty years or more.

These appeared to be some kind of old-school, under cabinet light, probably found in an office setting. They were heavy-gauge steel things with monster-size ballasts inside. Heavy. Our predecessors were scavengers.

Next, I’m going to start figuring out what to do. Can I remove the middle post and replace the beam with something to span that gap,… without the whole thing collapsing? What about that ugly, corrugated fiberglass at the front?