band-pass filter

R, Dan and Dave came down this past weekend. Besides the requisite Halo, Winner, surfing, and tasty food/drink, we were on a mission to clear the rocks out of the second terrace. It's difficult to describe the size of the task. But I should add that Dan cleared out the three juniper stumps that confounded the other two a year ago. Also the pier for the late satellite dish was hammerdrilled down to size.

The surf session at Fletcher's was pretty exciting. Cleanout sets in September, E says he had an overhead. Warm water, too.

Now that the lower portion of the wall is exposed, I'm inclined to give it a fresh layer of paint since that light blue and tile is ugly. I'm inclined to go very dark green to match the house/deck trim and work well with the red brick.

We planted some grass seeds and I'm keeping it very damp. Out front I've set up the drippers - keeping them pretty close together. They do a good job of wetting down the whole area. I just need to partially bury them, though the grass will do a good job of that.

Labels: backyard, halo, hammer drill, irrigation, juniper, paint, painting, renovation, surf, surfing, winner

I had quite a few visitors this weekend. The main project - other than good times - was resupporting the deck.

1. Remove every other post.

2. Grind away rusted rebar previously used to align posts.

3. Drill the concrete for the new anchors, 5/8" or 3/4" or something.

4. Fill the hole with epoxy and sink the bolt, allow to set overnight.

5. Torque the u-brackets to the concrete, level the new posts and bolt them with 1/2" galvanized hardware.

6. Mime strange things.

7. Raise sagging parts of the structure as necessary.

8. Drill and bolt the tops of the posts.

9. Start over with the opposite sides.

So a moisture barrier is pretty important. The next step will be to skirt the new posts in brick to make the assembly more visually appealing.

Buying a hammer drill for the job was not exactly a feather in my cap, but it defintely made short work of the concrete - about a minute to sink the length of the bit. My newfound ability to anchor to concrete opens possibilities in the difficult pursuit of a pool enclosure. I need a means to deflect falling leaves from the southernmost few feet of the pool. The pool vac handles them just fine, but I dislike cleaning the filter every few days.

Traditional pool covers will simply dump the leaves and such into the water when they are folded or rolled up, so an above-water solution is ideal. I'd considered a canopy, though not many can accomodate the 12' width of the pool. Such a structure would have the benefit of providing shade in addition to leaf protection. Anything with a roof and walls is an asset to use of the pool heater, though I wouldn't want the area permanently enclosed.

Being able to affix something to the concrete around the pool means I could do something that resembles a pergola, but with the potential for a roof and/or walls. This would look better than a canopy and provide a platform for great things ranging from outdoor lighting to volleyball net posts.

This weekend's roll call: