Waiting for Trusses

Well, as this title says, they are behind on fabricating our trusses, but then we only decided last week which wall we wanted the vaulted ceiling to come from, so one can't expect to have them completed in less than a week.  So we'll probably start on the roof next week.  But that doesn't mean there's nothing to do around here.  We still have two big hedges to cut and a lot of cement rails to fix.  What do I mean?

Well the original owner of the property had a cement post and rail fence made, so you wouldn't want to bump or run into it because there's no give.  Over the years the ends of the rails have been deteriorating and some of them have fallen from their holders because of  the deterioration.

You can see how the ends of these rails have corroded.  The rails slip over those metal ends jutting out of the posts.  Notice the top rail on the left being held up with some stones.  Danger Will Robinson, since each of the rails weighs about 400 pounds.  So we have to fix the broken ones, then shore up the ones that are corroding.

These 1/4 inch thick right angles can support the rails.

So, the owner had a mould that you could make new rails and posts from but that's a lot of work, so for the last 3 months we have been racking our brains for a solution.  Maybe just get a four by four and put it underneath for support, maybe making the post wider to hold the rail by making a cement form next to it.  Finally after a little more "drinkin' and thinkin' we came up with a different plan - steel right angles to support the rails.  

Here, you can see the bottom rail in place.  We put some silicone adhesive on the top of the plates before placing
the rail back on so it won't slide off, but with its weight it shouldn't move.  You might ask how we were able to lift the rail.
Well, with a 6 ft two by four underneath one end and Tony and I lifting each end of the two by four, it went up pretty easily.  Too soon we grow old and too late smart.  Later, I'll come back with cement and reform the ends while they are in place.

Now it's not all work around here.  We made a belated birthday brunch at the world famous Mauna Kea Hotel on Sunday and gorged ourselves, then spent the day at the beach relaxing.

Can't believe I'm 70.  I used to be able to eat 10 of these.

There's more than 140 years right there.

And that's the view of the Mauna Kea beach

Can't complain here.  


One other note to end this blog.  One and a half million people came to the Big Island last year and spent 2.1 billion dollars.  Many times the people staying at all the hotels on the Big Island during peak season outnumber the population.  So we're glad we are up the hill in the country away from the maddening crowds.