House versus Time

This morning I was going to write on a different subject, but when staring at the blue sky I noticed a dim half moon still visible at 8:18. Not an unusual phenomenon, but enough so that I stopped to envision where the sun must be in the sky to make the shadow on the face, and when would the increasing light make it invisible. I lined the moon up with a tree branch, held very still, and was pleased to be able to detect the lunar progression. As I wrote this, in a blink of geological time, the moon has disappeared.

While the moon may acquire a few more pits in 100 years, Mankind's buildings don't fare as well against geologic Father Time, or Mother Nature if you prefer.

To keep property up, constant vigilance must be followed by dreaded MAINTENANCE.

My usual morning routine includes a two mile urban walk, keeping me abreast of the progress of construction projects. The neighborhood is almost 100% developed and some of it more than 100 years old so not surprisingly most of the projects are remodeling and maintenance.

Lately I've been following porch replacements of the all wood variety.

I have a traditional wood porch on my house (built 1927) and like many of the era, it has inherent weaknesses and design flaws.

I've eliminated these flaws in the dozens of porches I've designed for my clients. No longer must your foundation sink, your floor bounce, or your roof sag.