Garage Parking
In an earlier post, from back when we were planning lots of renovations to our house, I mentioned that it was impossible to drive a car into our garage because at some point someone installed a post in front of the door (see above). My theory is that the house didn’t originally have a covered front porch. That arrangement weathered the south-facing front door quickly and probably made the front door knob excessively hot. Alternatively, maybe a covered porch was always there but certainly not originally in a configuration that blocked the garage. Google streetview allows one to see an address in earlier years and so I took the time machine back to 2007, the earliest available date. It shows the garage-blocking post there in 2007. Satellite photos on google earth go back further but become so grainy before 2005 that they aren’t helpful to determining when that post arrived on this scene or whether the house originally had a front porch. Not that it really matters much.
Last week, Always Construction made it possible for us to park our car in our garage. The plan was to install a new beam to span the entire shorter leg of the L that forms the front of our house and move one of the two existing posts and corbel to a spot in the middle. More of the existing structure was rotten than we planned (see below), which is one reason I investigated how old the porch might be.
Despite the slightly larger scope, the crew installed the new supports, repaired the stucco, and painted everything by the end of the week.
Beyond having the car protected from sun, hail, and rodents, I enjoy having the front of the house clear of vehicles. To celebrate I added some hanging pots to the porch.
While the garage project was underway, we went to Tent Rocks National Monument and then camped overnight Saturday to Sunday at Treehouse Camp. All that and Robert’s birthday made for an extraordinarily full week. Busy or quiet, it’s all good.