I am writing this on Saturday, May 31. There are several pics.

Removing the railing

This the week that deck repairs started. There are a lot advantages to hiring professionals. They get a lot of work done. They get it right the first time. And they’re fun to watch. In two days, they removed the old floor and trim, and installed most of the rubber that will be below the new floor. They also lowered the deck so it slopes away from the house. These pics will show their progress, but unfortunately you can’t tell the deck now slopes at 1/4″ per foot from the pics. The deck should be put back together this week. The support beams were quite saturated with water. I decided it would be a good idea to let them dry out before installing new trim. My contractor’s next available slot is in August. So the support beams will have plenty of time to dry out.

Watch that Edge

I read a couple of interesting books lately. “The Last Voyage of Columbus” by Martin Dugard is an excellent history and biography of Columbus and his times. I picked up James Shapiro’s “A Year in the Life of William Shakespeare: 1599” as a lark to learn something before going to Stratford-Upon-Avon. It turned out to be a quite interesting and very illuminating book. It compares events of the day to Shakespeare’s work. Shapiro chose his year well. 1599 was a turning point in Shakespeare’s work (he wrote “Hamlet” near the end of that year) and an important year in England’s history. On the other hand, “The Secret Life of William Shakespeare” by Jude Morgan is getting good reviews. But I found that it’s a completely fabricated story, written to include the highlights of Shakespeare’s history, with no discernible insights offered. I couldn’t get past the first few chapters.

Removing the Floor

I hope this finds everybody doing well.

Perhaps a Trellis instead of a Deck?

This Rubber will guide water away from the house and past the beams