I really feel like finally I can begin the year, that finally things are opening up, the energy is changing and I'm feeling it course through me! For some reason it feels like a new year has begun and I feel ready to take on the challenges that this year is serving up for me.
I have been getting the very distinct feeling that it's time to get things rolling with the house. There are a couple of rather large projects that must be finished, as they are in a state where they are getting worse and to wait could mean damage to the house. The house itself has a number of systemic flaws that, in order to fix them, one must tend to a number of precursor projects first.
One such project is our, 'sun porch,' a name that we have given this 3-season room. The room is not seated on a foundation, but is instead supported the way a deck is supported, by posts and beams. The existing posts are sitting on old concrete pilings which are starting to sink due mainly to erosion. It's clear that I will need to divert the water. The underside of the deck was designed to do this, but this particular area has not been tied in to under the deck. This is one issue. The second issue is that I will need to add more posts, jacks and beams under the floor of the sun porch. The floor has a spring to it because there is not enough support from the joists, which have a rather long run. Adding more posts and beams will make the floor solid and will stop the progression of the sinking concrete pilings along the outside wall.
I knew this job was coming and had plenty of time to think about the order of things.
The sun porch has been quite a disaster. My tools we're all scattered throughout, garden implements and garbage of all sorts we're distributed randomly through out. Over the winter the occasional cat would find an open garbage can and create a mess of paper and food wrappers. In order to address the sub structure underneath the sun porch the flooring/decking will have to be removed because the joists and ground below need to be exposed. This means I would have to first thoroughly clean and put away stuff in their proper place. Most of my tools have been longing for a real home and I knew that I would have to once and for all wrangle them together in one place. Matt's old room was going to be the place and I knew I would have to build some sturdy shelving to keep it all on.
The shelves are made of a somewhat crude but sturdy 2x4 construction. This is the second one of these I built for the same purpose, to keep tools and accoutrement. I cut 6 legs from 2x6 at 6' and screwed 2x4 cleats where I wanted each shelf to sit. Each shelf is made from 1/2" plywood, each being 4'x2.5'.
All of this work made me hungry.
Assembling the shelf is pretty easy, but its a little tricky to get the first level up. After that, there rest of them are easy to just set up on their cleats and then drill in.
It did not take me too long to fill the shelf up! These shelves are now home to every tool, compound or otherwise that I use to work on all of the various things that I need to work on in this old house. All of my power tools and tool boxes are here. All of my sockets, screw drivers, grabbers and cutters of all types are here. I have a box of various electrical components, boxes, 15 and 20 amp BX cable, breakers and switched. Another box has plumbing supplies, rosen solder, pipe cutters and replacement parts for the well pump. Another box has .. you get the picture.
Here is a shot of both shelves together holding all of my stuff. Not pretty, but very strong and useful.
This weekend we celebrated Aiden's birthday. Aiden got some cool stuff for his birthday. Here is a really cool one! These are legos that have LEDs built in to them! Wonders never cease/
