The next project for the house is going to be expensive: we're going to take the deck down, see about the installation of a porch safe, and re-do a lot of the fence posts because they weren't set properly.
Let's start with the deck: when it was built, whoever did it didn't put any braces between the house and the edge of the deck. And they nailed it to the steps down to the ground. The only posts you can see as you look under it are the four corner posts.
And the deck is about 12' x 17'. It's sagging. Badly. Like a bowl. And the board nailed to the steps has worked loose under the stress and standing up at a slant, with nails sticking out.
As for the porch safe...well, we don't really have a really good safe room. Yes, that's going to be really expensive. I think it's well worth it for the assurance that we can step out the back door, and go down a hatch, instead of trying to get to a yard shelter with a storm raging. A basement would be better, but isn't really an option.
Several of our fence posts weren't properly set. You can straighten them, but as soon as you walk away, the tension on the stretched chain link fence starts pulling the posts over at a slant. The one right up next to the house is really bad about it, leaving a gap that an adult human can step through, much less a toddler or a puppy. The posts near the gates are no better, letting the gates gape to where the puppy can get through easily. And there's no fencing along the outside edge of the deck, meaning pup can get under the deck to get out.
Odysseus has said that our back yard couldn't keep an arthritic basset hound safely penned. He's right. But we don't have an arthritic basset. We have an energetic Scotty puppy.
Am I going to force Odysseus to do this? Not on your life. We're only waiting until we get the income tax return in probably early March to pay to have it done. We're not competent to do most of this ourselves. We'd maybe be able to take down the deck without hurting ourselves. I doubt we can do much for the fence, other than figure out how to block the gaps, and add about 12' to the gap that will be completely open after taking down the deck. The rest of it's going to be hired out.
Maybe, if we're here in a couple more years, we'll extend the fencing up the north side of the house, and around the front yard. But there's a lot that I'm wanting done in the house before we consider that.
3 hours ago
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