I Drove a Porch

No, it's not misspelled.

As you age, so do things around you.  I knew of a couple who was getting long in the years, and their back porch was becoming rickety.  The "porch" was simply a set of welded metal steps.  And if I stood on them without moving, they'd rock back and forth.  Seriously, it was the only way for me to look like I had any dance moves.  So, their daughter volunteered her and her siblings to build them something new. Somehow, I ended up becoming a de facto decision maker.

I started out by making "dad" mark out where it was going to go.  While they headed off to take care of some legal things, one of the siblings hubby and I (and their kids) ran over to get started.

We fired up an auger to drill footings - but by the time we got it running, the young lad had already dug three of the holes.  Ah, youth and vigor.

We dropped some "Sonotubes" in place, shoved some rocks in the bottom to stabilize it a bit more, and filled them with concrete followed by some 4"x4" post base brackets, and let that set up overnight.

The next morning, we started installing vertical posts.  I made the young lady of the group do the bolt hole drilling - she did fantastic.  Truth is she did a lot more than that.  She worked on the actual decking, the stairs, etc.  She ran the drills, the impact drivers, etc.

Part way through, another siblings kids showed up.  They just cranked through the project, and did fantastic.  Apparently, I was simply there to be beautiful.

But, I was the idiot who climbed onto the roof panels before they were fully anchored in place.  Those sheets had to be screwed down from above, so someone needed to, and I've had a good life.  I figured I had less life to lose, eh? 

Anyway, we put up the railing, and built a "roof line" that was close to the house roof line.  Unfortunately, it needed to be "separate" so that we didn't require a permit.  We kept it close, but still separate.  In one weekend, we got the foundation, the frame, the deck, and the base of the roof built out.

We still need to install the moisture barrier and the roofing itself, but the basic shape is there, and it is much more stable.