The South Porch
A Welcome Relief

Ron is preparing to put up our offgrid south porch on the front of our house. The sun has been beating in the south facing windows for the better part of the summer. It is now June 2008. We need as much relief as we can get from the blistering sun.

Our neighbor is a carpenter and he came over to help Ron. They measured the 2 X 6 X 16s and placed the metal brackets every 24" on center. We all helped nail them on. Some did a better job than others. We needed to spread the bracket a little so the 2 X 6 would slip in easier. I did not do such a good job so it was taken away from me.

Ron didn't really care for this type of bracket. It is called a H1 Simpson Strong Tie or hurricane tie. But, this is what we had so we used them.

They measured and leveled and measured and leveled the 2 X 6s to the front of house. Then it was nailed to the 2 X 4s of the frame of the house.

They used the transit to level the blocks that would hold the columns. This was the third time we were able to use the transit yeah! The 4 X 4s were then nailed to between the bracket in the concrete. The columns were 10' and 16' apart. This was done so as not to obstruct the view of our quads and the trash barrels that are in the front of our house.

The brackets were nailed to the top of the 4 X 4s and the 4 X 8s were carefully placed on top and nailed. Three cross pieces were nailed to the 4 X 4s to keep them straight.

The 2 X 6s were placed in the brackets and nailed 24" on center. The other end was toe nailed to keep it from walking. Ron was concerned about the wood twisting because they did not have time to finish. Green wood twists very quickly in the sun. The weekend was over and work would be stopped until the next weekend.

I'll think of something to say. I still can't think of anything to say about this picture. It is merely another view of the x X 6s.

It is now July and the plywood is on the porch. The wood did twist slightly but it was okay. They staggered the sheets of subroofing. They did forget to put in the "H" clamps. Some of the plywood has warped and sagged. But the shade is so nice. We could even be outside this year during monsoons. It very great to be out when it rains. There are no bugs we were dry. Life is good.

The porch is 10' by the length of the house. We should be able to make a very nice area for bbq's and outside seating next year. The roofing and the deck will have to wait awhile.

It is monsoon season and the tar paper and the roofing were not on the porch. The rain was pouring through the porch roof every 4 feet. After a couple of weekends I got tired of getting rained on. I wanted to sit out under the porch.

Ron had gotten the felt tar paper so while he was a work I in my great wisdom decided to put up the felt. The caps that we had to use were not the metal caps I had used before. They were much smaller and plastic. We didn't quite get enough felt so I made it stretch by shorting on the overlap.

The south side of the house is were we get to most wind. This picture is what is left of the felt I worked so hard and was so proud to have put up. I guess it would have been okay if we had the roofing and been able to put it up immediately. Lesson learned.

Take a look at the Offgrid dogs kennel from the South Porch