The Twain Have Met

As promised, here is the second part of our building project update.  The twain have met!  Not only do we have the veranda roof connected between the old and new buildings at the front, we also have the decking joined the back.

We started with a huge stack of flooring we had laid out to finish drying several months ago.  Only 30 pieces, enough to finish a landing for the front stairs, remain now.

Tongue and groove flooring drying inside the new addition.  All this was used to floor the wrap-around veranda.

 Max tested it out at various times and places throughout the installation.

All this hard work wore her out.

 We changed the direction of the boards as the veranda wrapped around.

At the corners, we had wedges with the boards running at right angles to one section and what ever angle was the difference for the next section that came out perpendicular to the building.

Straight out from the French doors at the front.

Max, on the job.

Max doing the roll-over test to make sure it is all flat.

The back part of the veranda does not have a roof, per se.  It will have a large balcony with regular decking that will provide good shade from the afternoon sun.

The tall posts will support the balcony.  You can see the ledger board for the balcony on the back wall.

 Max loves to catch the breeze on the veranda.

Feelin' the breeze on her belly fur.

The guys also got the shed roof and the railing up on the little balcony at the front.

Still some work to do on the balcony rails.

 The views from the balcony are right at tree level - great for bird watching.

In the tree tops on the balcony.

 You can also see a bit over toward the southern part of the swamp that Black Creek runs through.

Looking south.

I really like how the pattern of the flooring turned out.

Hard working kitty.

Look at the wind brushing her long fur.

 We have sticky balls up until we get it screened in.

The screened in part with the door (where the broom is propped up) will come down so that the 2 verandas become one.

 Did I tell you that I really like the pattern of the flooring?

What can I say?  The kitty likes the veranda.

At the back, the twain have met!  At least north and south have, if not east and west of the poem.  Amazingly, the flooring height matched perfectly.

The 10 foot gap between the old deck and new one has been bridged.  We can now walk entirely around the 2 buildings while on the veranda.

 A 4 ft wide stairway to the ground 10 feet below will extend down from the left of the bridge.  All those rain gutters and downspouts are critical to us because all of our water for drinking, cooking, cleaning, bathing, flushing comes from whatever rainwater we catch.  We have no other water supply.

You can see the breezeway between the 2 structures.  The batteries will be on the other side of the halfwall where the paint can is.  

 Below is the view of the front early this morning.

You would think we had planned it to look like this!  ;-)

Screen, doors, and stairs are next on the agenda.