I do not know why I have a 100′ wrap around farmers porch. Unfortunately, removing it is not be a viable option. When my wife and I designed the house, we had visions of our children and grandchildren sitting on the porch on a Maine summer night, sipping ice tea while thanking us for being wonderful parents and even more wonderful grandparents to their children. Yes, we were dreamers, naive and gullible, but quite good looking.

We raised our children to be independent, self sufficient, responsible, and good people. Other than the rowdiness associated with raising three boys with a year or less separating their birth dates, there were no drugs, no crime, no disrespectful conduct toward parents and whatever else they got away with behind our backs.

My wife, bless her soul, was very passionate about her children. A master of psychological manipulation, she ruled somewhere between unconditional love and hugs and Grace O’Malley plank walking. It worked. No corporal punishment, but lots of psychological ploys and I had a pretty good dad face that could evoke in them fear, shame and guilt at the drop of a hat.

How did I get here? Oh, yeah. So my kids are all independent and live someplace else, like Texas or California, which is why you will not see any La Famiglia in any of the project pictures. Just me, but I have a strong back and a weak mind and you’d find no cheaper labor. This is deck refinish year. The cycle is every three years, unless I find a chair that is particularly comfortable. Then the cycle can extend to every four years, maybe five.

So about a week ago, I brought out the pressure washer, some Crud Buster concentrate and a small pump sprayer of diluted sodium percarbonate to bleach out the gray wood and song bird railing signatures. Unfortunately,  it takes two full days without rain before staining. Then two full days to follow, also devoid of rain. The current  forecast is a full week of rain, so you can see my dilemma.

A little goes a long way

It does not look like much in this photo, but the cedar is solid and tightly nailed and most of the residual finish will brush off. I always keep the car wash nozzle on the pressure washer so excessive pressure won’t etch the soft fiber out of the grain. There are some small surface cracks and checks, as well as the occasional loose knot but all and all the decking is pretty sound for a twenty six year old installation. Next year I will probably start changing out the worst boards and turn it into a five year deck replacement cycle.

It will be fine when it is dried

No, not like new, but perhaps seasoned. Not bad for twenty-six-year-old cedar and a lot less of a dent in cash flow than $6,250 for replacement lumber. The only dark spot is the one that resides under the smoker. Literally baked into the wood the spot is never coming out, so my solution is to return the smoker to the same spot.

Mathematically arriving at an excuse to buy more tools…

For the past ten years a project has been in the works to replace all of the pine exterior house trim with cellular PVC board. PVC does not fade, or rot, or split with age and it can be painted. It once was considerably more expensive than lumber, but thanks to high lumber prices the differential is minimal. Tools used to install, from saws to nail guns, are pretty much the same as woodworking. There have been some newer innovations in nuance.

Conventional wisdom of a few years ago was to use 40T blades when cutting PVC board to prevent end melting from circular saw blade friction. Now it’s a 10″  72-80 tooth carbide blade, with Modified Triple Chip Grind teeth. More specifically, .102″ Kerf, -3° Hook Angle, .071″ Plate, 6000 Max RPM. The blade design will miter PVC board cleanly without melting. On installation it needs a little end space due to the material’s coefficient of expansion and Maine’s temperature extremes. It also helps to wipe end cuts with acetone to seal the board.

Quoted $4500 material and labor to re-trim the garage doors and some corner trim, I researched for alternatives. Material cost was $360 for all purchased at Lowe’s. A middle of the road SKIL 10″ Dual Bevel Sliding Compound Miter Saw and sturdy portable stand, fitted with an 10″ MTCG blade cost $480. So, $840 rather than $4500 and I get more tools to pl… work with on other projects. I will let you know how it goes.

I think I’ve lost the guy who usually helps me with high altitude, heavy work. In Maine that means the guy you worked with for fifteen years or so stops returning your calls. I guess I can avoid looking down an re-trim the dormers, but I need to find a roofer for that top ridge..