March 24, 2021
Work continued today with the demolition of the decks. Praise God no one got hurt. Before they could be removed, we had to clear off all the stuff we had stored out there including the portable generator we keep there in case of a long-lasting power outage.
When I removed the front deck spotlight, I found it wired without benefit of a junction box with the wires just twisted together and taped with electrician’s tape. I will definitely sleep better at night once all the sketchy wiring in this house has been replaced.
The crew removed the side deck from the entry door back toward the front (lake side) of the house in order to gain access for laying the inboard foundation wall for the addition. After building temporary supports for the rafters, and removing the deck boards, they sawed through the ends of the joists and posts supporting the deck. With nothing holding the deck to the house, they were able to knock it apart and haul it off to the side. They removed the east side of the front deck in similar fashion. Removing those two parts of the deck took several hours to finish.
The west side of the front deck was handled a little differently. They started by removing the roof sheets back to the chimney. Then they used chain saws to weaken the supporting posts and cut through the ridge beam. With the deck just tottering, they kicked it off the front of the house and let it fall down the hill.
Once the front deck roof was out of the way, Casey used the track hoe to gingerly pull the front deck floor off the front of the building. With the decks cleared away, digging the footer trenches for the addition and the new front patio and balcony can begin.