This weekend saw the construction of the new patio roof or awning. I’m still not sure what to call it. We started last weekend by demolishing the old, bee-eaten structure. This Friday evening, Skip and I went to Lowe’s and picked out lumber and fixtures, settled on a plan to build the new structure. I had decided I wanted translucent polycarbonate roofing panels for light transmission, light weight, and durability. The rest was wood, treated to live outdoors without paint. It was surprising to me how hard it was finding nice boards.

Saturday morning, we started about 9:30am and worked straight through until we ran our of the special screws used on the roofing panels. We were about 20 short, but all the panels were in place and anchored. I’m still having a hard time believing it all came together so smoothly. Hats off to Skip for a lot of good thinking and materials suggestions.

Sunday, we finished up by putting in the remaining roofing screws, and added a nice facia board across the front to give it a nice finished look. But that wasn’t enough. There was a space between the header on the building  and the top of the doors where the siding stopped for the old structure. We headed back to Lowes in search of the ideal material to cover it. That turned out to be a 12′ piece of vinyl siding, from which we carved out the perfect covering. A few nails and a bit of caulking, and it was in place, covering all exposed wood from the previous structure. At that point, it was officially finished. We had a late lunch to celebrate.

Then we turned attention inside. We still had to do a little carpentry to mount the kiln vent fan and exhaust fan. Jack Anglin stopped by and lent a hand some great suggestions. I had the pleasure of cutting out a circle in the exterior wall through which the exhaust pipe would go. It really was fun cutting a hole in a building – not something I get to do very often. We finally got is sized right, managed to get some 2×4 pieces in place between the wall studs to support the fan motor, and then prepared the wall paneling and got everything put back together. The kiln vent fan motor mounted securely and runs with very little noise and no vibration. The 240V wall outlet had to be passed through the paneling, and once the cut-outs were made and panels wrestled back into place, we were finally finished.

There’s still a lot to do to complete the studio set-up, but this represents the last of the construction necessary to get the kiln in place and running. That’s on to calendar for next weekend. That, and a dozen more to-dos, which I’ll post more about then. In the mean time, I’ll work on cleaning up from today’s satisfying and enjoyable project.