Ha! Ha! Would that "someone" be me? If I went to the trouble to turn that thing in, I'd remember it. The model is so old they don't even want you to return them anymore. I've been lurking on satellite TV forums this afternoon, and the members claim they only know where it is if you have the phone hooked up, which I've never done. But some say the company will occasionally take a survey of usage (somehow ???), and if your receiver hasn't been used they will cancel it. Most likely what happened. Just a coincidence of timing. Maybe I left it on the porch and someone came by and picked it up. Or else it's sitting right out in the open and I forget to look right in front of me.
What I've learned about hair in the last year ... Two years ago, I tried to cut my own hair to create a spiked "do." It had to be just the right length, and you had to apply spiking gel. Lots of trial and error involved to get it just right. Debatable whether it was worth the effort. However, if you only comb your hair once a day, or, better yet, forget to comb it at all, because you know you are going nowhere and seeing no one, hair develops a mind of its own. In fact it spikes all by itself, even if it's too long. The effect is most eye-catching in the morning right after you wake up.
These two took me by surprise when I walked into the kitchen today. Standing 20 feet away from the window with phone camera on max zoom. They didn't move a feather for almost 3 minutes (edited out), and I couldn't hold still. Tried to get them to move at the end. One day I'll get a good picture.
I think I saw a young bluebird just now, perched at the kitchen window. It only had hints of blue in the feathers just like this one. It took off immediately. Flew down to the yard and joined the male bluebird. Maybe the bluebirds are moving in town. It's much safer. I've never seen a snake of any kind in town. Maybe I will get a bluebird feeder. This looks like it might work. Or this. I've never yet seen a suction cup that would stick. Not messing with live mealworms.
A project sitting on the middle burner as of now. The front steps. They are 10' wide with two 12" deep steps. Well made, only one loose brick on the far left, just downright ugly. I checked and they are still level. There is not enough room to stand and open the screen door easily from the outside, even though it is a sliding door. Decades of soil build-up in the yard have left the bottom layer of bricks slightly below ground level. Rain water collects there and likely seeps in the ground, headed toward the basement. The plan is to build a small deck over the steps, extending 3-4 feet out from the house, top even with, or just below, the porch floor. At least a foot wider on each side, to hide where the brick work changes on the house foundation. What I have in mind would start out something like this. No ladders involved, nothing too heavy to lift, and bottom line, if I don't like it I can always tear it all out. Will make a sketch to see how it would look from the road. If I can't think of any downsides, I'm moving it to the front burner.
Just to spitball here... I don't see where framing is required. You could just lay some 10' x 6" (or whatever depth is required) pressure treated right on top of the bricks to build up the rise, since the steps are level and are structurally sound. Whether it takes one or two planks to build up to the height you want, you would still want to put a vertical dress plate (board) across the back to hide the bricks (you know how some steps are open and some have that board in the back to cover the opening.) The dress plate could overlap the fronts of multiple boards, or it could overlap the front of just one board step (if 2 are required.) You could also use a combination of boards to get the exact rise you want (5/4 deck boards on top of pressure treated lumber.) To hold the boards in place: (1) Use Tapcons to screw them to the brick. This would require drilling small holes in the brick in several places for the screws to tap into...OR (2) Extend the boards over the sides of the brick steps and sink 4x4 posts at the sides. They're not really load-bearing (the steps bear the weight.) Or tack the pillars to the house somehow. You want this to prevent the steps from shifting since they won't be screwed down. You could also just have risers cut so they rest on top of the brick steps (I don't know if you would need 3 or 5 for the 10' span.) Then use whatever material is required to get the rise you want (or have risers cut to your specific requirements minding each step's rise, and use 5/4 decking.) Again, the brick steps bear the load. Let the boards overhang the edge and install pillars as in #2 above to prevent left-to-right and front-to-back shifting, although I gotta think this would be stable on its own. I would certainly screw boards (or 4x4 if there's room) in between the risers to stop them from shifting left-to-right, since they will be floating on the brick steps...in other words, build a solid structure using the risers before installing the step material.
Thanks John. I appreciate all the suggestions I can get. One question for now. Do you mean just lay 10'x6's flat on the brick? This (2) is what I planned, but the Tapcons would be a good idea also. It still might shift. Down to the nitty-gritty, which I hadn't thought that much about yet, but need to now. I want to ask more questions about the possibilities you suggested, if you don't mind, but I need to visualize them first so I don't ask stupid questions.
I worked with a non-profit that did free home repairs for folks. One woman developed health issues and could not navigate the steps into her home. The rise on the top step was too tall. We laid pressure treated boards (trimmed to fit) flat on the bottom 2 steps to increase their height (and reduce the final rise), and held them down with Tapcons into concrete. They did not shift. I would think that you would be good if you put a pair of Tapcons on either end, a pair in the middle, then a pair in between the middle and either end. That would be 5 pairs of Tapcons all together. Of course, you know to cut the board's depth so there is no overhang (tripping hazard as you ascend.) I would not worry about securing them beyond that (no end-overhang and side posts.) Just get long enough Tapcons. We had contractors as our project leads directing these repairs. We laid out the boards already cut to fit, marked where we were gonna screw through (measuring for a clean uniformly-spaced look to the screw heads), drilled small holes through the boards, then drilled the tapping holes through the drilled holes in the boards to get them started in the right place. Then we picked up the boards and finished drilling the holes, per the Tapcon instructions. Tapcons cut into concrete and brick, and are very secure. Tapcon stands for Tap Concrete. Your only concern would be the small holes left in the brick should you wish to later remove the boards. There are plenty of tips on the web for patching this. The beauty of Tapcons is that you are not drilling over-sized holes for lead anchors...the hole diameter is pretty much the screw diameter. It would be barely noticeable. If you were going to install the vertical backplates to cover the brick in between each step for aesthetics, I would make the step boards a little deeper than the existing step so that it overlaps the backplate, coming right to the front edge of it (again, no tripping hazard as you go up the steps.) Then you can secure the backplate by screwing down through the overhang lip into the top edge of the backplate, if this makes any sense. You can then toe-nail (or toe-screw) the bottom of the backplate to the lower step board since it's merely a dress plate. But I can't tell from the pic if installing such a backplate would make that middle step too shallow for safety. Again, 5/4 decking board is thinner than lumber. You really need to decide this before you cut the step boards so everything fits together with no tripping hazard.
Just another thought here... the steps we did do not shift, and they are only 4' or so across. The mass of a 10' pressure treated board ain't going nowhere just because you walk on it.
John, those stairs look nice and neat. Great idea. I think I understand your suggestions now. I was hung up on what you meant by backplate/dress plate. Those methods would raise the height of the steps fine. The problem is I want at least a 3 foot deep landing at the top in front of the door, so you can turn around 360 degrees, with 15 plastic bags of groceries on your arms, or unload them there to open the door. So the old steps will only be useful as a support in the back, I think.
Yeh, I figured a landing there would be in order. Otherwise you're still kinda doing a balancing act. I just reread your original comment where you talked about it. You were on the right track to begin with. Those are pretty wide brick steps.
I suspected this... The bluebirds were nesting in my old clothesline post. Today I saw one fly in. The top is completely rotted. As soon as they leave (do they ever?) I think I'll put a bucket over the top so the rain doesn't seep down into the nest. A few other birds have stayed in there over the years, but never a bluebird that I know of. I knew there was a reason not to take that post down. "The male will often keep feeding the fledglings while the female begins a second nest. After the young leave the nest, they are taught by the male how to find food and to protect themselves from predators. Nest boxes may be used up to 4 times per season.".. SOURCE
I have a couple of old dead-standing trees on my land up north that serve as homes to a lot of wildlife.
I have bluebirds on my property. I have no idea where their nests are. You read stories where they will come to your window and raise a ruckus as though they need help. Some folks have found that invaders have taken over the bluebird box, and when the foreign nest is cleaned out, the bluebirds return to their normal activities. Or sometimes the bluebirds have come screaming for help from predators. Fascinating how they will come to humans for help.
(5/14/21) Friday Last night I measured around the steps. A three foot landing is enough. The roof overhang would just about cover 3 feet. More would start to look like an undersized deck. The hard part will be how to merge it with the porch floor. Drove the truck around back to stake out exactly how much space a turn around would take, but the sink hole still gets in the way. It looks like enough of the St. Augustine grass survived the chinch bug attack last summer to cover over again by the end of summer, if we get enough rain. Maybe bluebirds eat chinch bugs. Could that be why they showed up this year? Weeds are filling in where the grass died. Remembered my Weed Popper, a birthday present from a friend, years ago. It works well on large broad based weeds when the ground is wet. Spent the rest of the evening popping weeds, stopped only by darkness. It's not unlike pimple popping. Many fire ant hills are also popping up. Long dry spell predicted. Will try to get out there again this evening. They don't make these anymore.