Restoration Work at Comstock House

Before the demolition: note there's no gap at the bottom allowing water to flow off the end of the porch. Only a few floorboards were actually missing, but all were rotting on the ends of the porch because the edges were unsealed.



A view of the corner, showing the herringbone pattern of the old floor, as well as the uneven rail. When we pulled off the pine top, we found that it had been shimmed up with plywood that had long ago crumbled. The highly-processed inset photo shows that the corner box wasn't square on this side -- we discovered why when we opened it up.




Inside the corner box were two balusters with the 1930s (?) darker brown lead paint. Who knew there was a time capsule?




Tim Donatelli, tearing out the old joists. Note the shims nailed on top of the joists to level out the floor; closer to the outside walls, these were partially or completely rotted away, adding to the weakness of the floor. All joists and girders were replaced with pressure treated wood.




The new floor: 1x4 tongue and groove Douglas Fir (matching the existing deck), blind nailed, with a pre-coat and final coat of Green's Clear wood preservative, ready for painting.