A day-to-day strive

Monday, Apr 25, 2022

South wing wall build

I finish painting the wing wall lumber. Then I screw the boards to the cinder-block wall.

I first rebuilt the rotted wing wall lumber using pressure-treated boards. Big mistake. You can't paint it right away. You have to wait a month for it to dry out or the paint will peel. While I waited the month, the boards warped so bad as to be unusable. So I went and bought kiln-dried 2x10 lumber. I primed it in the last episode. It took four days to put on two primer coats and two color coats. One day to mount.

With four coats of paint this wood should not rot anytime soon. I used silicone caulk to seal the boards to each other and to seal underneath to the top board to the cinder block. I used Tapcon concrete screws to attach the lumber to the cinder blocks. The screws came with a masonry drill bit I could use in my old Craftsman 1/2-inch hammer drill. A battery-powered Dewalt drill powered in the screws.

I got a second coat of primer on the boards before I realized I should trial-fit them. I could use the end cap to line up the front board. The board is a little long, I trimmed it and re-painted the raw edge.

I received the sanding disks from eBay for my old Porter Cable 444 profile sander . . I went to sand the boards on the house, and saw this chunk of rebar bent over and in the way. A right-angle grinder cut out the rebar.

This meant the original lumber never fir right. The short leg is a little too long as well. I set up in the garage, and used to the Hitachi saw to cut about a 1/4" from the board. This was too much, I might have got away with an 1/8". Short is better, you can fill with caulk.

I finally marked the speed square to show where to offset the fence for a precise cut. The front and top boards are close the same length. I did take off a little too much. With the rebar gone, I can use the profile sander to clean up the existing boards.

I used the KILZ primer to protect the lumber. This will get a coat of color after the job's done. I really did not like the KILZ primer, it stays gooey and sticky. Stacking the boards did this. This is the color coat I had Home Depot whip up. I just noticed it is primer too.

I did a horrible job with this modern thick paint. There are runs all over, but I can live with them. Here are the boards after the final color coat. I am trial-fitting the front board. It does not need any silicone sealer so it is a good place to start.

The Tapcon screws need a driver bit bigger than #2 Philips. They are more like #3. . I learned to put some 15W50 motor oil on the screws to get them to drive all the way in. One bit shattered on the first use.

Even these kiln-dried boards have a small warp. I drove another screw near the one with the shattered bit it in. Those shattered and sheared-off bits and Allen head can be coaxed out if you touch a stick-welder to the broken piece. Then it comes out.

That last screw drove all the way in, and pulled the board flat against the cinder block. For dealing with the silicone, I really like these 8-mil latex gloves, better than 6-mil nitrile. Here is the expensive silicon, I think 15 bucks a tube. I got almond color to try and match.

I lay in two thick beads at the corner. And glom a lot more silicone where the flat end of the board will go. This board pulled up perfectly, with just a little squeeze-out I could wipe smooth with my gloved fingers.

This side needed another bead of caulk to seal up the gap. I prefer to have a gap to caulk. The face boards are done. You always end up using way more tools than you think possible. I lay a bead to seal the top board. It worked pretty well, I learned too much is a real mess.

Here is the length of the board ready to plop down. Work fast so the silicone doesn't skin. I use the end cap to judge the position of the top board. I ran four Tapcon screws in all the boards, except the end cap, that only took two.

I trial-fit the shorter top board. The gloves got a sticky silicone coating. A long clamp held the short top board in place. I had to pull the board up twice so I could mark where the web of the cinder blocks was. That is where I needed to drill for the screws.

I had to remember that the top board is not over cinder block on the front edge. Using the end cap to judge where to drive the screw.. The corner looks pretty good. I caulk up the end cap area with enough silicone to squeeze out and make a good seal.

Four strips of duct tape held the end cap while I drilled and screwed in the Tapcon fasteners. What happened to the good duct tape? You can seal the caulk with clear tape. The wall looks good. It will get puttied and another color coat.

A rain will wash the dust off the stones and the wall will look great and last for decades. A front view of the wall from a distance. The way I cut the lumber it left this little triangular hole in the corner. I will fill it with scrap and wood putty.

The original lumber had a 45-cut on the top piece to eliminate the little hole. This cut is where a lot of rot started. I elected to have the hole and keep the top board one piece.
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And the job is not done until the tools get cleaned up and put away.

Every time I think I have all the tools needed, there is something that comes up that requires another trip to the toolbox. At least I have some limited tools in the garage, so the walk was shorter. This main work area is in the living room. No way I am working the hot Florida garage if I can be in the air conditioned house.

The next job is the long north wing wall, just over 12-feet, so I have to buy 16-foot lumber, cut it down in the store, and haul it home.

South wing wall build

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